Wales may have gone down narrowly to England last Tuesday night but the national side rediscovered something sorely missing from the past few years: pride.
Given Gary Speed’s men’s performance against England, fans were left dreaming what may have been had Craig Bellamy and David Vaughan been available, or Robert Earnshaw packed his shooting boots.
But most of all, Wales fans will hope the England performance, coupled with an impressive victory over Montenegro, means Welsh football has finally turned a much-needed corner.
And there are positive signs, both domestically and on the international stage.
While England fans could no doubt tell you FIFA rankings mean nothing, there has been little pride for the Dragons to slip to an all time low of 117, behind the Faroe Islands, given the highs of 27th place in 1993 and, more recently, a creditable 52 in 2002 during the memorable Euros qualifying campaign.
What’s more, it may even tempt more floating fans back through the gates after the sorry last months of the John Toshack years.
An attendance of just over 8,000 against Montenegro is not great but better than anticipated, given the predictions of a record low crowd. But then Cardiff City’s average is significantly higher.
Football fans do exist in Wales, but enticing them through the gates is another matter. Moving from the Millennium Stadium may have been a tad embarrassing for the FAW, but also made sense. Welsh fans are passionate and noisy but there’s only so much they can do with a barely third-full world class venue.
Football in Wales, in all aspects operates in a somewhat strange microcosm. Rugby is very much the number one sport in the principality and will always command the headlines, crowds and the love of young sportsmen. Witness the number of English-born players in the Welsh football squad.
Indeed, were it not for the England game, football would have struggled to knock rugby off the back pages, given the proximity to the Rugby World Cup. Many Welsh sport fans want the national football side to do well, but the Dragons will always play second fiddle to the oval ball game.
Then there is the club setup. Unlike, say, in Scotland, the national league does not inspire devotion or feed particularly well into the national structure. Attendances in the largely part-time league are often poor, even by non-league standards.
Naturally, football fans in South Wales, at least, would rather follow Cardiff or Swansea first, with the national team appreciated and liked but less of a concern. With Newport, Wrexham, Merthyr and Colwyn Bay all playing in the English pyramid as well, the national league can never compete, especially with many of the cities and bigger towns not part of the set up.
But this shouldn’t be seen as an excuse, especially when Wales have, in the modern era, come close to qualifying for a major tournament. It just doesn’t help. The slightly uneasy mix of big clubs playing elsewhere, a weaker national league and the dominance of rugby don’t make things easy.
Mark Hughes and, before him, Terry Yorath, showed what could potentially be achieved with a good squad coached to more than the sum of its parts. The problem has often lay in joining these parts together.
From John Charles to Ian Rush to Ryan Giggs to Aaron Ramsey, Wales has never had a problem producing quality players, but it never quite has enough of them at any one time. There will always be several problem positions and if key first team players - in the current case, Craig Bellamy - are often injured, the depth isn’t often available.
Under previous coach John Toshack, the lack of availability reached a nadir. Players clearly had no enthusiasm to turn up for their country. With each squad it was easier to list who hadn’t withdrawn through injury.
Under Gary Speed, things are slowly looking up though. The team looks more solid as a unit and withdrawals for friendlies are becoming less common. A future midfield of Ramsey, Gareth Bale and Jack Collison is genuinely exciting.
The success of Swansea City in reaching the Premier League and Cardiff City’s emergence as one of the leading teams in the Championship has helped matters. Successful, professional Welsh sides lead to an improvement in youth facilities and both sides - along with Wrexham and Newport in the Conference - play their part in developing and nurturing young Welsh talent.
Of the most recent Welsh squad, Joe Allen, Darcy Blake and Neil Taylor all represented young Welsh talent at these clubs, while Ashley Williams has grown into a fine centre-half at Swansea.
In addition, Cardiff can take plenty of credit for developing Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ledley and Chris Gunter. Older players such as Robert Earnshaw and James Collins also came off the Cardiff production line.
Even the Welsh Premier League is moving towards a more professional, competitive setup. The New Saints and Neath are both fully professional full-time clubs, while the latter’s signing of Swansea legends Kristian O’Leary and Lee Trundle boosted the league’s profile.
This might not be Beckham and MLS, but it garnered column inches and interest for the right reasons.
And while you’re more likely to see Cardiff or Swansea make a realistic stab at European competitions, these days Welsh Premier League sides are slowly making the league’s co-efficient rise, with TNS, Llanelli and Bangor City all producing notable Champions League or Europa League results of late.
It’s somewhat fanciful to think that the Welsh Premier League could, in its current state, provide players for the national team but, again, decent youth teams for many sides can only help, as would stronger teams in the senior league.
Although the most obvious solution to this - including reserve sides from the Welsh teams in the English pyramids - is fraught with political issues, both within Wales and FIFA, and is never likely to happen.
But these is a slow feeling that Welsh football is starting to move in the right direction. Individually, they may amount to small steps, but if it takes a Welsh club side nearer to a major trophy or the national side into another playoff to reach an international tournament, then many would consider this better than a giant leap followed by more years of despair.
Tags: Gary Speed, Robert Earnshaw, Wales, Wales v England, Welsh national team, Welsh Premier League