Wales international Gareth Bale has revealed he turned down the chance to play for England as a boy, saying it was "never an option" on Wednesday.
Bale and Wales will join England at Euro 2016 next summer after securing qualification for the tournament -- their first major competition since the 1958 World Cup -- over the weekend.
The Real Madrid star told The Mirror he was asked to join up with the Three Lions squad at a young age, but Bale, whose grandmother is English, quickly declined.
"I was really young at the time and my agent was involved, but it was literally a one-second conversation," Bale said on Wednesday.
"I just said, 'Stop -- it's never going to happen.'
"I'm from Wales and I love Wales. Everyone knows how much I love playing for Wales. My grandmother is English, but I'm Welsh and that's it.
"It was never an option."
Now there's a chance Wales could find themselves matched against England in France.
He could also face Real teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal side. In his brief time at the Bernabeu, where Ronaldo has been the star for years, Bale has been the target of Real fans on a number of occasions after poor performances.
"Maybe they will boo him and cheer me," grinned Bale, speaking of a possible Portugal encounter. "Whoever we get, hopefully we can test ourselves against them.
"It still feels like a dream that we've actually made it to the finals. Every campaign we start off saying we can do it, but there was a bit more belief this time.
"A few of us have more than 50 caps, and although the expectation went up and the pressure mounts with every game, we just tried to embrace it. As soon as we got the ball rolling, the momentum just took us.
"We were keeping clean sheets, we were nicking 1-0 wins, it was the perfect campaign.
Bale has been the unquestioned star of Wales' improbable run during qualifying, scoring seven of his country's 11 goals.
"Playing for your country should be the best part of being a footballer for every player," he said.
"Do we show more passion than some other nations? Yes, I think we do. I know for a fact that all our players, even the ones who are injured, send texts saying 'Wish I was there, wish I was there.'
"Every time I pull on a Wales top, I run myself into the ground. Many of these boys have been together for the last eight or nine years and we know each other like brothers. We fight for each other and to have that team spirit is really special."