The games, goals and quotes that defined Bellamy's Wales days

It began amid farce – and ended with renewed hope.

And along the way there were moments of controversy, tragedy and brilliance, all often bookmarked with brutal honesty.

Now 26 years on from the first time he wore the colours of his country, Craig Bellamy returns to the international stage.

It is no longer Bellamy the player, he of 19 goals, 78 appearances and countless more headlines.

Instead, the 45-year-old will lead Wales from the dugout, aiming to reach the major finals that so agonisingly eluded him as a forward of fierce talent and determination.

As he prepares to write the next chapter of his Wales story, BBC Sport Wales looks back at the key games, goals and quotes of Bellamy’s international days.

Denmark 1 Wales 2 - October 1998

Still only 18 years old, Bellamy would certainly have been wide-eyed at his first experience of international football.

These were the Bobby Gould days; post 7-1 Dutch hammering in Eindhoven and defeat by Leyton Orient, but still with its embarrassing anecdotes.

Black comedy, is how Bellamy later described it, as the honour of his debut against Jamaica at Ninian Park was preceded by manager Gould and striker John Hartson’s infamous training ground wrestling match.

That was in March. By June Bellamy had scored his first goal in his first start as Malta were beaten 3-0, before a 4-0 thrashing by World Cup-bound Tunisia that saw captain Gary Speed hand out a dressing room dressing down to the manager. This was peak Gould.

It appeared his days were numbered by the time Wales went to World Cup quarter-finalists Denmark in October. With the score surprisingly 1-1, the unmarked Bellamy – on for Nathan Blake – found his name in the headlines for the first time on the big stage as he headed home Darren Barnard’s cross into the far corner.

Bellamy later wrote in his autobiography that, as the celebrations subsided, Dean Saunders commented: “You do realise you’ve just saved this guy’s job?”

Billed as Gould’s farewell, it instead proved to be Bellamy’s breakthrough.

Wales 2 Italy 1 – October 2002

Bellamy had played as a midfielder in Gould’s last game, a typically shambolic 4-0 defeat by Italy in Bologna.

Four years later, the now-Newcastle star was very much Wales’ go-to man up front as hope and full houses followed Mark Hughes’ appointment as manager.

His non-stop energy to press and intelligent runs to threaten, dovetailing with Hartson’s hold-up play, helped Wales overawe the Azzurri in one of Welsh football’s most memorable nights, the victory sealed when Bellamy raced onto a through ball between Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta, rounding Gianluigi Buffon to score a goal he describes as one of his best.

Asked time and again about his greatest moment in a Welsh shirt, Bellamy rarely hesitated.

“It wasn’t just the fact we beat them, it was the manner of it,” he has said. “Usually when Wales have won we’d have been hanging on for periods, our goalkeeper had to have a great game, but that wasn’t the case. I remember (Italy manager) Giovanni Trapattoni coming in the dressing room after the game and saying ‘We were lucky to lose 2-1’.”

At times, Bellamy’s international days felt more about arguments, club v country rows, injuries and off-the-field issues. This was pure football, and pure joy.

Wales 1 Slovakia 5 – October 2006

An honour, and then an embarrassing defeat.

In the absence of Ryan Giggs, Bellamy was named captain for the first time for the visit of Slovakia, a decision he said John Toshack showed a lot of nerve in making given the inevitable storm it would create.

"I've read your columns and they're not very complimentary," Bellamy said to one journalist at the pre-match press conference. "I've got this thing about me but I'm not bothered. What's more important to me is my manager, the players around me and my family. They're the only people I have to prove anything to. It's easy to judge me, but they're the ones who know me."

Toshack’s hope was that Bellamy could help nurture some young talent on the field, players such as Gareth Bale who would go on to score his first goal for Wales in the otherwise miserable match.

Unfortunately, Slovakia scored five in front of Wales’ lowest competitive crowd for five years.

“What is there to look back on? It was a disaster and one of my lowest points,” Bellamy said. “I hope this is not a return to the bad old days for both our team and support.”

Slovakia 2 Wales 5 – September 2007

Bellamy’s commitment, even when qualification was either improbable or even impossible, was rarely doubted.

There had been the times where he had defied club orders to play, boarded private jets or rushed rehabs.

As Wales limped towards the end of Euros qualifying, Bellamy had travelled to Trnava just days after a health scare regarding his daughter.

He said later the relief of her recovery saw him play with a freedom, scoring twice as Wales found five of their own against Slovakia in a counter-attacking masterclass from their captain.

“You normally have 22 players battling away out there, pretty evenly matched," said Toshack. "This game saw 21 players, and one who was just unbelievable. It was scintillating. Craig gave us that result.

"He is our captain, our inspiration - even if no one really expected a performance like that. He was terrific."

Bellamy admitted he should have scored a hat-trick, but it was still Wales' biggest competitive away victory since a 5-0 win in San Marino 11 years earlier.

Scotland 1 Wales 2 - March 2013

Bellamy had been close to retirement when Toshack left before being talked around by friend and role model Gary Speed.

When Speed died, the obvious question was whether Bellamy would be able to carry on, such was the impact both his life and his passing had on his former team-mate.

After taking time out, Bellamy returned under Chris Coleman, perhaps deciding his one last effort would be to nudge a team full of potential to their next step.

It was out of reach for the now 34-year-old, not quite as sharp or as effective as he once was, but there remained a night that was personally significant as Aaron Ramsey scored from the spot and Hal Robson-Kanu rose highest in the Hampden snow for a comeback win that would help lay foundations of the qualification that followed two years later.

“I am so proud of these players for the way we played,” Bellamy said with a sense of achievement bigger than any individual impact on the game itself in Glasgow.

“We were left a legacy by an incredible human being and we followed that through, which makes me even more proud. We represent him and his ideas every time we play, our approach and the way we go about football. It was one of my proudest days in a Welsh shirt.

“I see a bright future for us, although I may not be around myself when we do eventually qualify.”

He was right. His home farewell came against Macedonia seven months on where he passed up a penalty for Aaron Ramsey to take, while four days later his final action as a Wales player was to set up Ramsey for an 88th minute equaliser against Belgium in Brussels, moments after a 16-year-old Harry Wilson took to the field for his debut.

Both will be involved this week as Bellamy the player becomes Bellamy the manager, and his Wales story takes in its next chapter.