Valdas Dambrauskas: From Game Show Winner to Champions League Coach
BBC Sport's Incredible Story of Sabah's Coach
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From Game Show to Champions League: Sabah Coach Tells His Incredible Story
Figure caption: Valdas Dambrauskas looks ahead to Manchester United and Arsenal games.
By Dale Johnson, Football Issues Correspondent
Published 21 minutes ago
On Thursday, Valdas Dambrauskas will walk out at Old Trafford as manager of Sabah in the Champions League. The Lithuanian's career will come full circle, some 20 years since he made his first steps into coaching with Manchester United Soccer Schools.
"This is beyond my imagination," Dambrauskas told BBC Sport. "To go through that tunnel on to that pitch. I've been many times to Old Trafford with the kids, and now I'm going to come as a coach."
A Tale of Determination and Chance
This remarkable journey begins not with football but a gameshow appearance. In 2002, Dambrauskas won £725 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? He used his winnings to fund his move to London, where he would begin his coaching career.
"My idea was somehow I will try to go on these [coaching] courses to gain the coaching badge, maybe go back one day to Lithuania and start to work as a football coach," he said.
What followed were eight years of hard work: holding down multiple jobs while studying sports science and coaching at London Metropolitan University, coaching for community projects, and working within professional youth programmes.
"I was doing two, three, sometimes four jobs," Dambrauskas remembered. "And I remember thinking, 'This is a bit crazy.'"
A Coaching Career Across Europe
Dambrauskas' nomadic career took him across Europe: from London to Lithuania, then to Azerbaijan with Sabah. Along the way, he's coached at various levels, gaining experience and refining his craft.
Now, as Sabah prepares for its Champions League debut, Dambrauskas reflects on his journey:
"Everybody now takes only this part, you know, about the money. But yes, it is a true story. My career has been built slowly over many years."