But that long and painful spell in the international wilderness could well be consigned to the history books in Cardiff this weekend thanks to the latest heroics from former Tottenham forward Bale, whose sixth goal of the qualifying campaign extended Wales’ unbeaten run to seven matches.

The champagne is on ice for Chris Coleman’s team, who sit three points ahead of second-placed Belgium and five clear of third-placed Israel with three games remaining.

While this was a hardly a vintage display against a Cyprus team ranked a lowly 82 in the world, the joyous celebrations among Bale and his teammates at full-time underlined that the result was all that mattered.

“It was always going to be difficult. The pitch was woeful, it was hot and humid, and the opposition had nothing to lose,” Coleman said.

“It wasn’t one of our better performances. But it’s a huge three points. There was a lot of pressure on us and the players handled it magnificently.”

Bale added: “It was more than tough but we were able to nick a goal that has put us in a great position. We know what we have to do.”

This is a golden era for Wales; they haven’t lost a competitive game for two years and the latest Fifa rankings placed them above England for the first time.

Even so, Coleman had challenged his players to prove they could cope with the pressure of sealing qualification and their nerves were stretched to the limits by a determined Cyprus and a rutted pitch that tested even the best techniques.