Voice. One voice. That’s what we needed. And that’s what we got when Bhutan played Sri Lanka on the home ground Tuesday at Changlingmethang National Stadium in Thimphu.

We saw our worth, for the first time, in the mirror of our national soul.

We are worth more, much more than we think we are. That’s what we learnt that day. The World Cup is a big event. And we will fight tooth and nail if we have to, to get there in 2018, in Russia.

We passed that message to the unbelieving world, that this nation may be small but it’s got a heart of a real dragon.

Archery may be our nation’s first game, but football is the passion and the pulse of our nation. And we need to shine in the international arena. It’s a good beginning. Our boys proved that more neatly than any could ever do.

We are a people confused with our own capabilities.  We are a young nation. We are a country with big dreams. We are also a country with misplaced priorities. But we have a lesson today to learn from.

We can forge ahead with one dream and shared belief. We can, with us all together.

Games are good. Sometimes they are the only things that remind us of our common ambitions and aspirations. There are more than 80,000 social media users in the country. It was a peaceful feeling, indeed, to see the nation speak in one language, that we are a proud nation.

It is remarkable that we have not lost our soul and have still our wish to hold together well-preserved. We disagree on issues small and big every now and then.  Often times, we are compelled to guard our own grounds.

United, we can achieve things we set our eyes on, however big our dreams are. Divided, we lose everything, our own self, even.

Sports bring unity. They give us reasons to celebrate and to move on with pride. They give us space to breathe and to share our fragrance, beauty and grace. Above all, they remind us of our commonality and the need to shine as one nation and one people.

That we saw with our win against Sri Lanka on March 17.

But we have a long journey ahead. We will have to face big names and tough talents. But together we must face them all.

Football is our international face besides much else that we are known for. We must succeed at all fronts.

Well, how do we do that?

We think as a nation and do as a nation, together. We give right importance to our small priorities.