As 'Viva Gareth Bale' reverberated around a capacity Cardiff City Stadium, you could sense the great man himself start to choke up.
When Bale finally got to speak, and called Wales' fans 'the best in the world', it wasn't the usual platitudes you get from footballers. Bale meant it, such is the love, warmth and affection he has been afforded from the Red Wall over a stellar 17-year career that may have ended under a cloud with Real Madrid, but has always seen him staunchly backed and feted as an idol in his homeland.
Even when he wasn't playing, Bale was still the headline act as he said farewell to the supporters ahead of Kieffer Moore bagging the winner over Latvia, which gave Wales a four points out of six start to their Euro 2024 campaign that Rob Page and his team will be chuffed with.
READ NEXT: Gareth Bale's emotional day saying farewell and thankyou to Wales fans - in pictures
Yes Wales would have won at an absolute canter with Bale in his pomp, but even the best things come to an end in football. We have just had a glimpse into the future post-Bale and while Wales obviously will move on, things will never quite be the same.
When it comes to a special rapport between player and fans, you will struggle to find a stronger bond anywhere in the world than the one Bale has with the Red Wall.
You can argue the case for Ronaldo and Real Madrid, Harry Kane and Spurs, even throw in Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
Making it even more parochial, Neil Warnock and Cardiff City supporters, Leon Britton and Swansea. There's an incredible buzz at the moment between Wrexham and their Hollywood owners.
But whatever the merits of each and every one of those cases, Bale and Wales fans is a love affair like no other.
That was embodied as he seemed to choke up when the fans sang his name as he received his special presentation on the pitch from FAW President Steve Williams.
For Wales supporters everywhere, loss of the pillar, cornerstone, talisman and captain of their team has become reality in the last few days.
A Wales team-sheet without Bale on it at number 11 is a bit like... well, fish without chips, Morecambe without Wise. And so on.
Wales will adapt, of course they will. It's not been a bad start post-Bale, has it? New skipper Aaron Ramsey and his team just need to keep momentum going with their June double header, home to Armenia and away to Turkey and then in the autumn matches that will make or break Euro qualifying hopes.
The trouble is, how on earth do you replace Mr Irreplaceable?
They once asked that about Ryan Giggs, of course, when he hung up his Wales boots in 2007. In came Bale, producing greater feats in the red of Wales than even the Manchester United icon.
There are the facts, of course. A record 41 goals in a record-breaking 111 Wales appearances.
Invariably ones that mattered too as they won key games for Wales. The winner versus Belgium in Euro qualifying; two in the World Cup play-off with Austria; even the last-gasp effort in Andorra, without which the magical Euro 2016 ride would never have happened.
At one point I calculated he contributed to more than 70 per cent of Wales' goals in qualifying for France. No other footballer in Europe came close to having such a significant impact upon his own team.
But Bale, as we saw with that special ovation he's just received, was about way, way more than the tangibles.
The fans loved him because he offered hope every time the ball was at his feet, that potent mix of raw power, pace, ruthless finishing and lethal free-kick ability meaning he had supporters on the edge of their seats.
What Bale also did, however, was alter mindsets.
With him as spearhead, Wales went from nearly-men and also-rans to achieving the qualifying dream. He was part of a new group of players who ended the age-old issue of players pulling out of some games.
Those two, of course, went hand in hand.
Giggs' withdrawals, and the reasons for them, are well documented. But there was one game in the USA under Mark Hughes when, to slightly alter the words of the Dionne Warwick hit, 17 players suddenly didn't know the way to San Jose for a summer friendly.
Under John Toshack, there was a game in Azerbaijan when he was frantically left ringing around for replacements.
Bale, and this new crop of players, helped change that, would turn up for matches through thick and thin. As a result, the bond between team and its supporters got stronger and stronger.
Ashley Williams may have been the official captain, and what a good job he did, but there was always the feeling that Bale was the real leader inside that dressing room. Management knew that if Bale, their record-breaking Real Madrid superstar, was happy with methods and tactics, then it would be good enough for everyone else.
Whoever has been manager, the team spirit among the Wales players has always been special, an us against the world mentality. But it's never been greater than in recent times, with Bale's sheer love of playing for his country and singing the anthem so proudly central to that.
From the moment he made his debut as Wales' youngest player, aged just 16 years and 315 days, Bale made his mark upon Wales, helping to set up the winning goal that day.
John Toshack, who brought through Bale with a plethora of other teen talents, used to stand on the side of the pitch barking orders, telling them what to do and where to go as they learned their football in the harshest environment of the lot against battled-hardened international pros.
"With Gareth, he was already in the right position before I could shout anything," says Tosh. "He just got it."
Bale's positional sense? Amid the plethora of brilliant goals, perhaps we overlooked something as simple as that when it came to his many strengths.
One of my favourite Bale stories centred around a, shall we call it disagreement, with knowledgeable Wales fans after a 4-0 World Cup thumping of Moldova the game after the Euros. They were demanding to know why Joe Allen, not Bale, was named man of the match that night.
Little Joe, by the way, had a brilliant game. But I pointed out Bale crossed for Sam Vokes' opener, took a speculative shot no-one else would have tried that led to a corner for Allen's second, scored the third himself with a sublime finish and then won a penalty, got up and calmly stroked home.
"So Gareth had a hand, directly or indirectly, in every one of our four goals," I pointed out. "What's not man of the match about that?"
"Oh, when you put it like that..." came the hastily revised opinions.
Maybe some were becoming so accustomed to his brilliance, they started to take what Bale offered for granted.
I've certainly lost count of how many times he won MoM. Let's just say it was an awful lot.
The fans certainly helped bring the best out of Bale in the red. Whereas he was roundly jeered in Spain, he was loved in Wales. That showed in his differing performances for club and country towards the end. Clearly even a multi millionaire, with the world at his feet, needs to be happy of mind.
Yes, he was well past his best come the World Cup dream, but remember it was still Bale's brilliance that got Wales through the play-offs.
He mustn't be judged on Qatar; let's always look fondly instead upon the 15 and a bit years that came prior to that.
How best to sum up Gareth Bale? The best British footballer of his generation.
Supporters of Wayne Rooney , or indeed Ryan Giggs, might contest that.
But you won't get too many arguments from Bale's adoring Wales fans.
READ NEXT:
Gareth Bale spent night with Wales team and played round of golf before his special moment
Gareth Bale just found the perfect words to sign off in front of the Red Wall one last time
Wales player ratings as Kieffer Moore a menace and Daniel James in unplayable mood
Aaron Ramsey's Arsenal observation of Mikel Arteta speaks volumes as new Wales skipper 'mixes it up'
