‘Best defeat of my life’ – Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Welsh hero you’ve never heard of
Wales had endured more than half a century in the international wilderness, absent from major tournaments since the 1958 World Cup.
There followed decades of false dawns and agonising stumbles at final hurdles, until a golden generation of players emerged to inspire a new hope.
Bale, Aaron Ramsey and the rest had been around a while by the time the Euro 2016 campaign came around and, as those stellar talents approached their peak, they were ready to take Wales to new heights.
“There was definitely optimism, a quiet belief I would say,” says Hal Robson-Kanu, the former Wales forward who started up front against Bosnia.
“We’d begun to get results which typically you wouldn’t expect Wales to get at that level. We knew we could do something special.”
Having won three and drawn two of their first five qualifiers, Wales truly started to believe this could be their time when they beat Belgium – then ranked second in the world – in Cardiff.
Coleman’s side then missed the opportunity to seal qualification when they were held to a goalless draw by Israel but knew a point in Bosnia or at home to minnows Andorra would get them over the line.
And so to that night in Zenica, a hard, industrial city in the heart of Bosnia, soaked by driving rain.
Even with the security of the Andorra game to come, Wales could not hide their dejection after second-half goals from Milan Djuric and Vedad Ibisevic gave Bosnia a 2-0 win.
“It was the first game in that campaign we’d lost, so that feeling was just hurting us,” Coleman tells BBC Sport Wales.
“We were playing Andorra at home in our final game, we needed a point, and I remember thinking about our history, how we always fall at the last hurdle and I was thinking, ‘Come on, really?’ I fancied us to do something against Andorra, but you never know, do you?
“Then I was coming off the pitch. Our fans are to the left. I remember thinking, ‘They’re a bit joyful. We’ve just lost 2-0. Why are you doing this?’
“Then I saw Mark Evans (the Football Association of Wales’ head of international affairs), who had a look on his face. He said Israel won. And I swear he waited three or four seconds and then he said: ‘Cyprus two.’ He paused again and said: ‘Israel one, Cyprus two’.
“He said we’d qualified and then I just remember turning around and all the players were waiting for me because I think they knew before I did, and I just couldn’t contain myself. I just ran to anybody.”