Watch Wales vs Trinidad and Tobago on Sky Sports Football and Main Event from 7.40pm on Wednesday
Wednesday 20 March 2019 18:42, UK
When Gareth Bale made his Wales debut against Trinidad and Tobago in 2006, few would have predicted how the next 13 years would pan out.
Even former Wales defender Danny Gabbidon's comparison with Wayne Rooney at the time seemed like optimistic patriotism, but Bale has exceeded all expectations as his side prepare to face Trinidad and Tobago again on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Football from 7.40pm.
Bale made his international debut against the Caribbean side in May 2006 in Austria at the age of 16 years, 315 days, becoming Wales's youngest-ever player - a record since broken by Harry Wilson.
Coming on 10 minutes into the second half, Bale eventually provided the assist for Robert Earnshaw to grab a winner in the 87th minute in a 2-1 win.
Incredibly, Bale had played only 180 minutes of first-team football for Southampton prior to making his Wales debut, but then-Wales boss John Toshack took a chance on the youngster.
Arron Davies, Jason Brown and Glyn Garner also made their debuts that day, but only Davies went on to win another cap, earning just three in total.
Wales were ranked 73rd in the world at the time, but are now in the top 20, and were even up to eighth in 2015.
Toshack said after the game: "Gareth can be very pleased with his performance and his part in the winning goal. We have been very impressed with him while he has been with us, there is a lot more to come from him but that was certainly a great start."
Then at Southampton, before his 2007 move to Tottenham, a wide-eyed Bale was as humble as ever after the game, saying: "I wasn't expecting all this, this year. I'm proud and so are my parents obviously. I just want to build on it from here.
"It was exciting just warming up on the side and I was just wishing I could get on. Thankfully I came on and I managed to set one up.
"It's been a new experience for me being around all the big players. It feels like a dream come true."
That dream has turned into a fairy tale for Bale. Having led them to an unprecedented Euro 2016 semi-final appearance, the Real Madrid forward is now Wales' record goalscorer with 31 in 74 caps, overtaking Ian Rush last March.
Bale has only started one of Wales's last four games due to muscle fatigue and non-selection; since Sept 2011, Wales have won only three of 21 games that he has not started - winning 23 of 43 when starting.
