IT did not take much for Brendan Rodgers to the feel the deathly-cold hand of sadness touch his shoulder. A sudden and sombre encounter that reminds him of the grief that once consumed those closest to him, a loss that has now turned into a legacy inherited by a nation forever united in their mourning.

The Celtic manager is standing in front of a group of Scottish journalists on foreign soil, the topic of his new team recording their first win under his leadership high up on the agenda. Tables are being cleared at a hurried pace to his left, the dull rumble of bodies shuffling in and out behind him providing easy distraction. Not for a mind that is far away, though. So far, far away.

The home dressing room. The Liberty Stadium. Sunday, November 27, 2011 against Aston Villa to be exact.

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The feeling of disconsolation in that room is still etched on to the soul of the Northern Irishman to this day. Only moments before news had filtered through to his Swansea City players that Gary Speed, the country’s national manager and treasured icon, had been found dead by his wife Louise at their Cheshire family home.

Sitting in front of Rodgers was a collective of broken and empty souls. What only a couple of days before had been a group fuelled on athleticism and bullishness had been reduced to tears by the loss of the man held close to so many of them.

“I was at Swansea at the time, and I know the effect that it had on a lot of the players back then,” said Rodgers when asked for his thoughts on the achievements of Wales in this summer’s European championships. “Chris Coleman took on a very difficult job when Gary Speed passed away.

“We had a game against Aston Villa that day, and with hindsight it was a game that should never have taken place. I saw the emotion in the changing room, both with the players that I had, and in some of the boys in the Aston Villa team as well.The Herald: Wales manager Chris Coleman says his players will not be affected by focus on the battle between Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo around their Euro 2016 semi-final.

“So to take on that, and then bring the team forward to the stage they are at now - in the semi-finals of a major championship - is wonderful.”

The fact that the game almost five years ago was played out to a draw was nothing more than an absurd irrelevance to most who took part in it. Wales captain Ashley Williams had been pulled from his team’s dressing room just minutes before kick-off to be told the news before sharing it with fellow internationals Joe Allen and Neil Taylor. In Alex McLeish’s dressing room was James Collins as well as Shay Given, one of Speed’s closest friends from their days at Newcastle United.

“We decided to play the game as a mark of respect for Gary because he was a football man,” said Rodgers immediately after the game. “We spoke a lot because of our respective jobs and he was a true football legend. It’s just so sad. He had been doing a fantastic job for Wales.”

It is not to diminish the leadership or influence of current national team manager Chris Coleman to say the words ‘Gary Speed’ will stir as much pride, passion and emotion as any team talk his successor will deliver inside the Stade des Lumieres this evening. In the semi-final against Portugal in Lyon, Wales are incredibly just 90 minutes – or 120 if Portugal’s track record is anything to go by – away from what will be the biggest moment in the country’s footballing history that will surely never be surpassed. A title that they may already have notched up.The Herald: An inquest into the death of Gary Speed has heard he died hours after a row with his wife

It is a journey from darkness into light that still carries a reflective shadow, but one that offers is a continual source of inspiration.

“I had good relations with the Welsh FA,” said Rodgers. “I had good communications with Osian Roberts, who was the technical director with the Welsh FA, looking after their boys who were coming through.

“Wales have a way of working that is about technical ability. The Welsh FA teach all their teams, all their kids, to play football that is based around a technical game. I think you’ll see that in all the Welsh kids. They know they don’t have the size of nation of all the other countries, so you have to be different, you have to do it in a different way. That is how Wales have done it, and they’ve done it very, very well. They have developed technical players, with a good physical base, and they are getting the rewards for it.

“If you look at their players, you realise what they’ve got. Aaron Ramsey plays in the top-four in the English Premier League, and for one of the top clubs in Europe, and has done for a number of years.

Gareth Bale at Real Madrid – a double Champions League winner. Joe Allen – a big player at a top club. And there are others, like Joe Ledley, really good players, really good stalwarts who do the dirty work.

“It is probably a surprise because Wales had not qualified for so many years. But it is not a surprise to me.”

Given how Wales have stormed their way through France over the last month – most notably dismantling heavily-fancied Belgium in the quarter-finals – and the fact that Portugal have yet to win a game in 90 minutes, a fool would bet against them not just tonight but to win on Sunday night. And Rodgers is no fool.

“I think they’ve got every chance. One of the big teams has gone out – Italy. Germany will be the favourites, for sure, because of their experience, and being the current world champions, and for the fact that they’ve got loads of top players who are used to big pressures. But there is no reason why Wales can’t.

“I think they’ll only be looking to their next game, and in Portugal, I think they’ve got every chance, absolutely.”