Brazil were still the reigning world champions when Gareth Bale entered the international stage. One of his opponents as he made his debut, Trinidad and Tobago’s Russell Latapy, was born in the 1960s. Bale was two decades his junior and the 2006 World Cup lay in the future.
If 2006 has a particular meaning to Ukraine, quarter-finalists in their only World Cup to date, it frames Bale’s career, too. This has been an epic quest. He has been the British game’s most successful export and, whether or not he is the greatest Welsh footballer – John Charles, Cliff Jones, Ian Rush and Ryan Giggs have competing claims - he has a compelling case to be the finest ever Wales player. He has dragged them to the brink of a first World Cup in 64 years.
