It is hard to put a finger on when the momentum became unstoppable.
It was certainly not that at the outset of Wales' Euro 2016 journey. The campaign was six minutes old when another nation which sits on the border of a so-called superpower and always on the outside of major events thought they had pulled off a coup.
Andorra went 1-0 up against the Welsh in the first game of qualifying, in September 2014.
They were still holding onto a point, which would have been an unprecedented success in European Championship qualifying for the modest Andorrans, until nine minutes from the end of the game. Gareth Bale, with a free-kick, made it 2-1.
It would be neat to report that Wales, as they approach Wednesday’s semi-final of Euro 2016, and at their first major tournament since 1958, have never looked back from that awkward date against the semi-professionals of Andorra up in the Pyrenees. But part of the strength of this Wales squad is their willingness to look back, self-critically, just as long it’s not too far into the past.
Chris Coleman, the manager, has been respectful with the eagerness of the public and media to compare this journey with the one made by the Wales World Cup squad of 1958, when they reached the quarter-finals and were knocked out by a goal from Brazil’s Pele.
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But he is clear how relevant that precedent is, a landmark, nothing more. Besides, Wales have hit now hit a peak, a semi-final, no other Welsh team in history have climbed.
Coleman cultivates a constant yearning for improvement. As Gareth Bale put it, looking ahead to the meeting with Portugal in Lyon: “We’ve been learning from the mistakes we made before and we’ve grown in confidence so that we can now feel very comfortable.”
The mistakes? Wales have wobbled at times in a tournament where they topped their group, and have come from behind to beat Belgium in the last eight. Often they have suffered when they have been defending too deep, not being proactive. Coleman addressed the issue after their opening match against Slovakia, a 2-1 win, and when they lost to England in the next game because of conceding an injury-time goal.
The communion of the players on the field has drawn a good deal of attention, sometimes envious, from countries with a far greater pool of resources than the Principality.
As Joe Allen, the Liverpool midfielder who has had an excellent tournament acknowledges: "We've talked a lot about the unshakeable spirit we have, and we have been tested almost to the limit at times." That Wales are in the last four, and the form side meeting a Portugal who have yet to win a contest in 90 minutes, is, says Allen "a testament to what this group is about".
On the training field, Wales have made their routines, their Plans A and B second-nature. Scroll back through the tricky moments of the campaign, and there are plenty of turning points involving dramatic, last-gasp clearances: Ben Davies early in the game against Slovakia; goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, Neil Taylor and Davies all within a matter of seconds in an alarming episode of penalty-box pinball at the beginning of the 3-1 win over Belgium.
Taylor, for one, will not put that sort of defiance down simply to chance, or battling spirit.
“We’ve played like this for two years now, we know our jobs and we know our roles. If anybody’s going to beat us they’re going to have play really well. We’re well drilled. It’s almost army-like in the way we play. We know what we have to do.”
One test of the resilience and the instinctive understanding developed through the campaign will be how Wales manage without two of their totemic players, the suspended Aaron Ramsey and Davies. They will also be up against a Portugal who have a great deal more experience in the later stages of major tournaments – this is their fourth semi-final in Euros or World Cups in a dozen years – and some notoriously crafty, wily warriors, like Pepe, among their number.
“We’re not bothered about that,” said Ashley Williams, the Wales captain. “Maybe we were naïve in the past. But we’ve got streetwise.”
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