Roll the clock again 12 months and Joel Colwill was going through then uncapped Icelandic midfielder Benony Breki Andresson, as Cardiff Metropolis drew 1-1 at Stockport in League One.
One 12 months on, and the 21-year-old Welsh teenager is hoping to share the pitch with Portuguese nice Cristiano Ronaldo and Norwegian goal-machine Erling Haaland.
Colwill has been included in d for Wales upcoming Nations League A marketing campaign in opposition to Portugal, Norway and Denmark, and the Cardiff midfielder can not fairly consider he may very well be going through footballing legends.
"Hopefully if I get the chance to play in opposition to each of these gamers, it'll be fairly surreal, particularly Ronaldo, one of many biggest gamers of all time," stated Colwill.
"If I discover myself on the identical pitch as him, I'll be in shock.
"It might be a reasonably surreal second, if it occurs. Fingers crossed it does."
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Having been promoted again to the highest flight of the Nations League, Wales start their daunting fixture checklist in opposition to Portugal in Lisbon on Thursday, 24 September.
And Ronaldo is in line to face Bellamy's facet having been named within the .
After the Selecao's last-16 World Cup exit, the 41-year-old former Manchester United and Actual Madrid star stated he would communicate to his household earlier than deciding whether or not to hold on taking part in for his nation.
His inclusion within the squad to play Wales means Ronaldo will delay following his nice rival Lionel Messi into worldwide retirement. As to which of these deserves the title of soccer's GOAT, Colwill is undecided.
"It's a troublesome one as a result of Ronaldo is without doubt one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, however by way of play-making, Messi is without doubt one of the greatest," he added.
"They each have their very own other ways to impress and had moments in historical past the place they have been the perfect."
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Colwill's boyhood hero, nevertheless, was a lot nearer to house. Ever since being raised on recordings of Steven Gerrard he has aimed to emulate the Liverpool nice.
"My outdated man had DVDs and I used to look at a great deal of Liverpool video games of [Gerrard] taking part in when he was scoring objectives," stated Neath-born Colwill.
"So, he's a participant, particularly once I was youthful, I used to try to mannequin my sport on."
He could not but have reached the Premier League stage that Gerrard graced however Colwill – the youthful brother of Cardiff and Wales team-mate Rubin – broke into Bellamy's squad in September 2025 making his debut in a . His second cap got here six months later in opposition to Northern Eire.
"Once I go on [Wales] camps, I'm making an attempt to study as a lot as I can off Craig and the highest expertise they’ve there," Colwill added.
"There's some prime gamers there, like Harry Wilson and David Brooks, with loads of them taking part in within the Premier League, which is each participant's aspiration sooner or later – to play in what some would say is the perfect league on this planet."
