Russia v Wales: Gary Speed pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes and slowly became more and more pained. It was not the toothache hurting him, though that was bad, but the memories.

Asked to name the Wales team the day he made his debut back in May 1990 against Costa Rica, Speed was able to recall the likes of Neville Southall, Peter Nicholas, Glynn Hodges and the other debutants that afternoon, Eric Young and Paul Bodin. He forgot who the right-back was, though - Clayton Blackmore - and having named nine and two subs, he then got stuck on who partnered Dean Saunders up front.

"Ian Rush?" Speed offered unconfidently. "No. Thought you were meant to be good at quizzes." "I am, history and geography. Not football. Eh, Malcolm Allen?" "Sub. While you're pondering, why Costa Rica?" "They were in Scotland's group at the 1990 World Cup."

A frown. But no more answers. "I can't think. Centre-forward?" More time passed. "Heard of a man called Mark Hughes?" "Oh."

Oh indeed. Speed went as red as a flag. The captain of Wales had just forgotten the name of the manager of Wales, someone whose immediate future is entwined with his own in Russia today. But it was nothing other than forgetfulness. Talk to Speed about Wales and it becomes clear pretty quickly that Hughes is a man for whom Speed has the utmost respect and affection.

It is a common reaction among the Wales players to Hughes, who remains Sparky, one of us, despite his status. Speed's longevity - he is 34 - gives him perspective on Hughes and this Wales team, and not just beginning with Costa Rica 13 years and 77 caps ago.

"I always remember him scoring that goal against Spain at Wrexham [in 1985], the overhead kick," Speed said of Hughes. "I was behind the goal that night. That sort of got him a move to Barcelona. Then I was in the same team as him. I was in awe.

"It was the same with Ian Rush. Very daunting."

Familiarity has not lessened Speed's admiration and as he reflected on his time with Wales, praise for Hughes and the present set-up flowed.

"I was fortunate when I came in, that was the start of one of the highs. We nearly qualified in '93 for the World Cup and we beat \ Germany, we beat Belgium, we beat Brazil at home. That's when we moved from Ninian Park and the Racecourse \ to Cardiff Arms Park, that gave us impetus.

"But after we missed out on qualification when Romania beat us in Cardiff [the Bodin missed penalty night] Terry Yorath left - they didn't renew his contract - and that's when it all went a bit pear-shaped.

"Tosh [John Toshack] came in and obviously things went on behind the scenes. He only stayed for one game.

"Mike Smith took over and I remember going to Georgia and losing 5-0. That was a real low.

"Then Bobby Gould took over and there were some brighter moments during that, but most of the time we were struggling to make our mark on the world stage, always fighting against it, you felt. Then came Mark Hughes and it seemed to lift the gloom straight away, everything more organised, more professional and as a group of players we started to believe we could achieve something. Mark still has an aura about him. He doesn't say a lot, very quiet, but everything he's done demands respect. When he does say something, you tend to listen, that's how he gets his point across."

In certain quarters Gould's Englishness had counted against him. Hughes, being a Welsh legend, has advantages.

Welsh nationalism is a prickly topic and Speed, from Hawarden, north Wales, is not wholly impressed by some of its manifestations. "I think it's unfair to criticise someone for not being Welsh, but the smaller the nation the more patriotic you seem to be. I don't like the showy nationalism - a tattoo, wrapping yourself in a flag - that doesn't matter to me. The way to show your patriotism and commitment is to go and support or play for your team.

"I think a lot of people in Wales think like that. Everyone I know is fervently proud to be Welsh but you try not to be preachy about it. It's difficult at times. But when I go home to north Wales, or to somewhere I've never been in south Wales, I still feel at home because I'm in Wales. It's hard to explain. When I used to drive down from Leeds you go down the M15 and through the Forest of Dean - beautiful place - and there's a big sign saying 'Welcome to Wales'. I always used to put Green, Green Grass Of Home on as I was crossing the border. I know that's really sad. I look back now and cringe. I put the Red Hot Chilli Peppers on now. But I think it's about that sort of . . . spirit. Everyone has it, whatever country."

Fond of it as he is, Speed did not feel the need to have his children born in Wales - one arrived in Chester during his Everton period, the other in Alnwick in his Newcastle phase - "but they've both got Wales kits".

And a proud father, too, should Wales qualify. Speed could then concentrate on Portugal, rather than on whether the end of the second leg might be his international cut-off point. He is, moreover, viewed by some as a future Wales manager.

"When you get to this age people are always asking what you're going to do. I don't know. At the moment I feel as fit as I have ever done. If I was struggling then maybe in the back of my mind I'd be thinking: 'Yeah, this is it.' But even if we don't qualify I won't make a decision straight away. Hopefully I won't have to make that decision, but I don't want to be distracted by thinking about that. I just want to go for it."

And manager of Wales?

"If everything in life was perfect, yeah. But it's not."