Bale looked accomplished in attack and defence on his Wales debut
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Gareth Bale says he has been living a "dream" after earning his Southampton debut and becoming Wales' youngest international in just six weeks.
Bale, 16, enjoyed a fairytale first cap on Saturday when he set up Wales' late winner against Trinidad & Tobago.
"I wasn't expecting all this this year. I'm proud and so are my parents obviously. I just want to build on it from here," Bale told BBC Wales Sport.
"I enjoyed every minute. It's a great feeling to have an assist on my debut."
Despite playing only 180 minutes of first-team football, Bale had shown enough ability in training last week to convince Wales manager John Toshack he was mature enough to handle international football.
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It was exciting just warming up on side and I was just wishing I could get on
Wales left-back Gareth Bale
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And with Saturday's friendly with Trinidad & Tobago fizzling out to a low-key draw, the timing was perfect for Bale to come off the bench at left-back.
The move that led to Wales' unlikely goal was about the only time they managed to string a few passes together in the attacking third all second half.
With encouragement from Toshack to get forward, Bale played a one-two with Earnshaw before delivering a perfect low front-post cross which the Norwich striker converted for his second of the night.
Before the game, Wales stand-in captain Danny Gabbidon had compared Bale to Wayne Rooney in showing maturity way beyond his years.
And the Cardiff-born teenager showed no signs of nerves when he come on aged just 16 years and 315 to break Lewin Nyatanga's three-month old record.
Bale said: "Thankfully the match was going alright for us and it wasn't too quick a pass so I got my chance to come on.
"It was exciting just warming up on side and I was just wishing I could get on. Thankfully I came on and I managed to set one up.
"It's been a new experience for me being around all the big players. It feels like a dream come true."