World Cup: Wales riding a wave of emotion in first appearance at tournament for 64 years

You only had to be at the Rhondda Valley Community Center for an event to mark the Wales squad announcement to realize just how much what awaits you actually means.

It was in Tylorstown, the place where manager Rob Page grew up, and in front of an audience of many childhood friends, he had to stop and calm down twice when asked to describe the meaning.

“Suck it, for God’s sake!” Page said to himself the first time. Before he spoke, they played the country’s national anthem, a new version of Yma o Hyd (“Still Here”), a song about national pride by Dafydd Iwan. “I cried every time I watched it,” Page said.

Wales will play in their first World Cup since 1958 when they take part in the 2022 tournament

Manager Robert Page (pictured) struggled to keep things together when he announced his squad

No country is more emotionally involved than this country, playing in their first finals since 1958, when they were managed by Jimmy Murphy, Sir Matt Busby’s Manchester United assistant.

Busby insisted that Murphy take Wales to a World Cup qualifier in Israel, rather than join United on the European Cup trip to Belgrade, which would end in destruction on the runway of a Munich airport.

Gareth Bale says he will bear the memory of Gary Speed, who died in 2011

The Page players also feel the rhythm of history. Gareth Bale says he will bear the memory of Gary Speed, who led Wales for a year before his death in 2011.

“If Gary were with us now he would be proud of what we have achieved, not just on the pitch but off it,” said Bale.

The huge question is just what role Wales’ trio of elite players can play, and whether the lesser talents that have gathered around them can do enough in periods of their absence.

It can’t be said that Bale’s decision to join Los Angeles FC in June has been a success – two starts and not a single 90-minute run-out in the US casts serious doubt on whether the 33-year-old captain is fit enough to play three matches in nine days.

The same applies to 31-year-old Aaron Ramsey, who only started his second game since September for Nice this month.

Wales’ elite players, Bale, Aaron Ramsey (pictured) and Joe Allen, have no playing time

But the one who has kept die-hard Wales fans up at night is Joe Allen, the so-called ‘Welsh Xavi’, once of Liverpool and now of Swansea City. He has, more than any member of this aging triumvirate, the capacity to make Wales tick.

Allen, 32, certainly looks set to miss the opening game against the US, but for Page, even a small role against England in the final group game justifies his place.

The 3-4-2-1 system Page has settled on benefits from wide players Connor Roberts, now at Burnley, and Neco Williams, who has impressed since leaving Liverpool for Nottingham Forest.

Ramsey fits less easily into the current system. In the European Championship victory over Turkey in Baku, as the No. 10, he showed brilliant intuition with Bale from that position. He has been less effective as one of a trio of forwards.

Forest’s 21-year-old striker, Brennan Johnson, is one to watch, while Daniel James, now at Fulham, brings speed, if not always, for the last pass or shot.

Nottingham Forest striker Brennan Johnson (R) will be someone to watch out for Wales in Qatar

These attacking options and a robust defense – for which Tottenham Hotspur’s Ben Davies is essential – give Page reason to believe his side can move out of Group B. Football’s greatest stadium demands the exceptional and it all seems to depend on whether Bale can conjure up something sublime.

The chance of getting one over England sharpens the incentive. Before the two countries met at Euro 2016, Bale stated that Wales had more ‘passion’ than England, later saying that none of Roy Hodgson’s players would make the Welsh squad.

At the community hall last week, Page reflected on Bale’s free-kick against Austria in the World Cup play-off semi-final, which was so fundamental for the country to be a part of it all.

“I was right in line with him when he stepped forward to take it,” Page recalled. “I thought, ‘If anyone can do it, you can.’ I said a little prayer.’

The same goes for the country’s next big adventure.