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About 36 minutes into Wales' Nations League opener against the Republic of Ireland, Jon Walters receives the ball just inside his own half facing his own goal.

There's little pressure with a number of options between the Irishman and his box to pick out.

Yet, in a flash, he is robbed - mugged and out-muscled by a 17-year-old who can't even buy himself a pint to celebrate his starring performance.

Seven seconds later, Wales have scored a third and the match as a contest is over.

Aaron Ramsey with the finish, but Ethan Ampadu with the brilliant assist - his first for his country.

It was just one moment from a stunning competitive debut for Wales from the Chelsea youngster.

This is what made his performance so special and why it's been a long time coming.

His journey

Ampadu started his career at Exeter City. An injury crisis saw him thrown into the Grecians' defence at the age of 15, where he impressed manager Paul Tisdale with his composure - despite still being at school.

"Often these 15 or 16-year-old players who come through early tend to be, as a sweeping generalisation, a quick sparky winger where you're not risking too much by playing him," said Tisdalde.

"When it's a centre-back, you have to trust them, and the biggest compliment I could give him is that he plays like a 35-year-old.

"That's not normally the English way; the English way is that we like drama, we like spark and instants, but we don't often encourage and cultivate subtle, class players."

As he started to progress, Ampadu's versatility became apparent - with Tisdale talking about him being able to play in "four or five positions".

The impressive performances caught the eye of Chelsea who signed Ampadu in July 2017 - making his Premier League debut in December that year.

That assist

Back to the Ireland match.

The slide rule pass for Ramsey was Ampadu's only assist last night but there could have been more.

His crossfield pass to David Brooks put Wales in position to attack the vulnerable Irish defence ahead of Wales' first goal - with Joe Allen eventually finding Tom Lawrence to open the scoring.

(Image: Sky Sports)

Ampadu started the move, dropping deep to the right of Wayne Hennessey to take a short pass as Wales look to play it out.

That movement and ability to move around was key to how Wales wanted to play - with Ampadu constantly going into different areas of the pitch to create angles and passing options for Wayne Hennessey, Ashley Williams and Chris Mepham.

It's the sort of play you'd expect from a seasoned midfielder, not a teen making his first competitive start for his country.

And the versatility of Ampadu is what makes him so comfortable wherever he is on the ball - making it seem like he's moving differently to everyone else on the pitch.

(Image: Sky Sports)

Another similar piece of play where Ampadu came deep to collect the ball from the goalkeeper saw the ball end up in the net, only for the goal to be ruled out after Gareth Bale had just strayed offside when chasing another inch-perfect pass from the Chelsea youngster.

So back to his assist.

After robbing Walters - the man who was literally the embodiment of the physical style Stoke City brought to the Premier League - Ampadu runs across Conor Hourihane, putting his body between himself and the Irishman to take the Aston Villa midfielder out of the game.

He then slips an inch perfect pass between Ciaran Clark and Stephen Ward to find Ramsey - who does the rest with a low finish to Darren Randolph's left.

Afterwards, Ampadu was unassuming about his first assist for Wales - shifting the credit from himself to Ramsey.

"It was a nice feeling to get an assist," said Ampadu.

"They’re not something I get too many of, so it was a weird feeling, but Ramsey did the main job of putting it in the back of the net."

The complete performance

It wasn't just those key passes that marked out Ampadu's performance as special.

For a start, his whole range of passing was top drawer.

Whether it was spreading the play with some outrageous switches to capitalise on Ireland's lack of cover around the full-backs or just simple, positive passes in midfield and through the lines, Ampadu did little wrong with distribution in his 67 minutes on the field.

The other pleasing aspect was how he received the ball - often showing plenty of awareness before it even reached him.

A quick glance over the shoulder to read the play ensuring he could play first-time balls in different directions with ease. They looked like risky passes but the awareness and vision of Ampadu was laying the groundwork for them and they were more than calculated.

(Image: Sky Sports)

Away from the ball, Ampadu was just as impressive.

His positioning was spot on throughout, often cutting the ball out when Ireland launched a rare attack or making a crucial block.

He also wasn't afraid to order his more experienced teammates around - pointing them to where they should be playing.

There's no fear with this youngster. That's why he was called up to the Wales squad when he was just 16.

(Image: Sky Sports)

Perhaps his most impressive piece of defence came during a moment of uncertainty in the Welsh penalty box.

A cross had not been dealt with and it appeared as though Ireland's Callum Robinson was in pole position to win the loose ball and get a shot on goal.

Yet Ampadu, having tracked back from midfield to win the two preceding 50-50s, showed muscle to win and then shield the ball from Robinson.

Even more remarkably, he then displayed tremendous composure to turn the Preston forward before clearing.

He didn't rush, he didn't panic. He just did what he had to no. No fuss, no frills. Just class.

There were other examples of what Ampadu did well.

Virtually his whole time on the pitch was a masterclass in how to play positively as a deep-lying midfielder, but that composure and discipline coupled with his ability is what really caught the eye.

His former boss Tisdale talked about cultivating drama over subtle class. Ampadu clearly broke the mould on this showing.

What everyone is saying

Unsurprisingly, social media blew up for the Chelsea youngster - with the media also singing the 17-year-old's praises.

Sky Sports pundit Phil Babb said " he could have been playing in slippers " - before advising Chelsea to start playing him.

"Ethan Ampadu has got composure beyond his years. The world is his oyster. I think Maurizio Sarri has to look at him and say 'wow - what a player I've got here'."

His manager Ryan Giggs was also pleased with what he saw.

“Ethan is a talent, but not only as a player, but as a person," said the former Manchester United star.

“He’s so measured, so mature, he just takes everything in his stride.

“Ethan is going to be a magnificent player and I was really pleased with his performance."

Wales knew this was coming

Behind the scenes, Wales knew this was going to happen.

Ampadu was part of the victorious age-grade Wales team which achieved historic wins over France and England. Ben Woodburn was viewed as the real star turn of that side, but Ampadu was right up there in terms of class and compsure.

He played in defence, he played in midfield. Hence his ability to perform with the aplomb described above.

From a young age Ampadu possessed a special quality that cannot be coached - he always had time on the ball.

This time last year, Woodburn exploded onto the senior team in style with that unbelievable world Cup winner versus Austria. It was inevitable Ampadu would follow suit.

He has.