Wales’ World Cup campaign started to unravel at the very moment it began in earnest.
They were fortunate to draw against the United States in their opening game, Page admitting he got his selection and tactics wrong as his side were outplayed by dynamic, athletically superior opposition.
Bale’s late penalty rescued Wales on that occasion but, with their all-time leading scorer’s influence waning as retirement loomed, Page’s side would have no such luck in their remaining two fixtures.
The manager said there were “lessons learned” against the USA but he proceeded to repeat the same mistakes against Iran as Wales were overwhelmed physically once again, hopelessly overrun as Iran won 2-0.
More than effectively extinguishing Welsh hopes of reaching the second round, this felt like the beginning of the end of their golden generation.
Bale, Ramsey and Allen were all key figures in Wales’ dizzying ascent to the Euro 2016 semi-finals but, in the baking desert heat of Qatar, they had been reduced to shrivelled imitations of their former selves.
The final ignominy was a 3-0 defeat against England which could have been a far more severe drubbing had Gareth Southgate’s men felt the urge.
Just a week after their first World Cup game for 64 years, Wales were heading home.
“Hopefully, next time we qualify it won’t just be about being there,” says defender Neco Williams, who started all three matches.
“Last time, we were just there.”
Plenty wanted Page gone while others felt World Cup qualification had made him close to unsackable, or at least had earned him another chance.
However, he was soon under pressure after a humiliating 4-2 home defeat against Armenia derailed their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
Although he held on to his job despite missing out on qualification, Page was eventually dismissed last summer and replaced by Craig Bellamy.
Bellamy has started superbly, unbeaten in six games having led Wales to the Nations League’s top division and instilled a bold new playing style in the process.
His ultimate aim, as he stated on his first day in the job, is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
And more than that, having seen how Wales fared in Qatar and how that disappointment still burns in his players, Bellamy wants his team to do themselves justice if they get to next year’s competition in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
“These boys have got to a World Cup. I understand the motivation to move that again because of what happened last time,” he says.
“We always talk about ‘us against the world’ but we’re not an underdog. I don’t believe in that, and I won’t have it. Now, at times you use it, but you can’t live on it because it only lasts so long.
“For me, it’s always ‘no, we are more’. We think more of ourselves than anyone else thinks of us.”
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