“It’s not down to me, it’s down to the players, and perhaps a little bit of luck as well. When you score in the 94th minute, there has to be a little bit of luck involved. But I’m grateful to the players for believing throughout.”That was how Valdas Dambrauskas, the coach of Sabah, reflected on his team’s 3-2 victory over Hapoel Be’er Sheva in normal time and 5-2 win after extra time. As usual, he was modest, even though this historic achievement for Sabah — a club founded in 2017 — has given Azerbaijan only its second representative in the Champions League.The dramatic moment that Sabah FK forced extra-time in their Champions League play-off! 🤩Just wait until the camera pans back to the corner taker… 🤣 pic.twitter.com/M8SFz79OKS— Sleeper Football (@SleeperFooty) August 26, 2026 But Dambrauskas did not merely talk. He backed up his words with his actions. As a representative of the relatively unknown Lithuanian footballing school, Dambrauskas did not have an easy route to the big European clubs, even if most of them came from the eastern part of the continent. In fact, his journey is unlike that of virtually any other coach in the world.Following the elimination of Hapoel Be’er Sheva, the internet was flooded with clips of a 25-year-old Dambrauskas appearing on the famous quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” (the Lithuanian version was called ‘Sesi nuliai – milijonas’). He did not manage to win the jackpot back then, but he has now, 25 years later — and that quiz played a very, very important role in making this outcome possible.Back in 2002, young Lithuanian won 3,000 Lithuanian litas, which was only around €870 at the time. Adjusted for inflation, that would be roughly €1,500 today.This is Valdas Dambrauskas in 2000, participating in Lithuanian edition of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’.He was just a student that never played professional football.The money he won allowed him to go to England and attend multiple coaching courses. He managed to gain… pic.twitter.com/kls9q9rZi5— Tribuna.com Football (@tribuna_ftbl) August 25, 2026 But Dambrauskas found a smart way to use the money. He did not spend it taking his friends out to celebrate. Instead, he used it to travel to England and attend coaching courses. That is where everything began.First, he studied Sports Science and Coaching at London Metropolitan University. He then worked at academies such as Fulham, Manchester United and Brentford. Naturally, breaking through at those clubs was difficult, so his first independent managerial job came at Kingsbury London Tigers in the ninth tier of English football, where he achieved historic results.From there, his career took him through Lithuania’s youth national teams, Ekranas — initially as an assistant — followed by Zalgiris, RFS, Croatian side Gorica, Ludogorets, Hajduk Split, OFI, Omonia, Diosgyor and, finally, Sabah.Throughout it all, he believed. And slowly, the rewards began to come.##EDITORS_CHOICE##He became Lithuanian champion with Zalgiris before winning the cup with RFS. In Bulgaria, he led Ludogorets to the league title, while in Croatia he lifted the cup with Hajduk.Then came the biggest chapter of his career in Azerbaijan. First, he guided Sabah to a domestic double in a country where Qarabag had completely dominated for years. Then came qualification for the Champions League — and with it a financial reward of at least €30 million.€18.62 million is guaranteed, with additional revenue coming from TV rights, ticket sales, bonuses for victories and draws, and the final competition placement.Of course, that is a far greater sum than the money the coach won on that quiz show all those years ago. But those €870 from the television screen gave him something far more valuable: hope, belief in himself and gratitude.##NAJAVA_MECA_9915740##