The opening year of the Craig Bellamy era ended in truly astonishing fashion this week.
The former striker took charge of his country for the first time in early September, but now has a three-month wait until Wales' next World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan.
His record so far is an impressive one. Bellamy has overseen five wins and four draws from his 10 matches as boss - with his first defeat being the dramatic 4-3 loss to Belgium on Monday night.
But it's fair to say the Red Wall - of which there were 4,500 in Brussels - took immense pride, and crucially, belief from defeat to Rudi Garcia's side.
Having gone 3-0 down to the side ranked eighth in the world by FIFA following goals from Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku, Wales appeared destined for a hiding in the Belgian capital.
However, a remarkable comeback through goals from Harry Wilson, Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson almost saw Wales claim a point from a 3-0 deficit for the first time in their history.
Unfortunately, the irritatingly irresistible force that is Kevin De Bruyne netted the fifth goal of his career against Wales, the most he has managed against any nation, in the 88th minute to spare Belgium's blushes.
But Bellamy's post-match comments typified the thoughts of Wales supporters who had nothing but admiration for those in red who had threatened to complete one of the greatest comebacks in their country's history.
"To come to a top-eight team and can we play the way we want to play? I think the Belgium players saw it as well," Bellamy said.
"I think I read something from the Belgian media – 'an easy way to the USA'?
"There's a lot of life in this group and today I saw a lot of life in this team.
"We aren't going anywhere. I will have a couple of weeks now of recharging, but I'm beyond proud and really excited about the future."
From the word go against Turkey at Cardiff City Stadium on September 6 last year, Bellamy's desire for his team to attack and play with intent was there for all to see.
They've also shown plenty of battling qualities when required too, as evidenced in the 4-1 win against Iceland when they fell behind in the seventh minute.
There was a real mettle shown in North Macedonia too as, after Joe Allen's rare howler looked to have cost Wales dearly in Skopje, David Brooks rescued the visitors a point deep into injury-time.
This team doesn't have a Gareth Bale while Allen has since retired for a second time.
They have rarely been able to call upon the talents of Aaron Ramsey, either, given his ongoing injury struggles.
But others - notably Wilson, Thomas and Johnson, the scorers in Belgium - have stepped up to the plate under the new regime.
At the halfway stage, Wales remain firmly in contention to challenge for top spot in their World Cup qualifying group.
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They also host Belgium and North Macedonia - their two strongest challengers for a qualification berth - on home soil later in the year.
Not including the painful penalty shoot-out defeat to Poland in the Euro 2024 play-off final, Wales have not lost any of their last eight matches at Cardiff City Stadium.
The trip to Kazakhstan is far from a foregone conclusion though, but fans have seen more than enough over the 10 games of the Bellamy reign to date to feel confident heading into each of the remaining four qualifiers, in addition to the friendly fixtures against Canada and neighbours England.
Failure to qualify for last year's Euros in Germany hit hard, and the frustration spilled into anger in the summer as Wales failed to beat minnows Gibraltar before being hammered by Slovakia in what proved to be Rob Page's final match as head coach.
But there is renewed optimism under Bellamy following what has been a whirlwind tenure as boss for the 45-year-old so far.
Welsh fans will be more than happy if that new optimistic spirit continues into year two.
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