Football commentators and enthusiasts from Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine, Serbia, and other countries share the story of how it all began.
“A special photo. This is a young man participating in the local version of the show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’
He later invested the money won on the show into coaching courses in England, and this season he will play in the UEFA Champions League with Baku’s ‘Sabah’,” says Tancredi Palmeri, a correspondent for ‘SportItalia’ with a quarter of a million followers on the social network ‘X’.
The photo of young V. Dambrauskas sitting in the 2002 show ‘Six Zeros – a Million’ is flashing all over foreign portals.
The strategist himself has also talked about this film-worthy career start.
“Yes, you could say Arūnas Valinskas helped (smiles). I invested the money won on that show into a trip to England,” V. Dambrauskas told the podcast ‘Vieni Vartai’ six years ago.
VIDEO: Vieni Vartai. 1×1 with Valdas Dambrauskas
Vieni Vartai. 1×1 with Valdas Dambrauskas
The football enthusiast was 25 at the time. V. Dambrauskas worked at ‘Pakruojo parketas’ and was studying philosophy and social sciences part-time at Šiauliai University.
He got into the then very popular TV game on his fourth try – by correctly naming the Scandinavian thunder god over the phone, according to an article in the Pakruojo region newspaper ‘Auksinės varpos’.
“By the way, out of the first ten questions, he did not answer only one, ‘drink and mystical creature’ (which was a genie), and the young man immediately explained why – he does not abuse alcohol!
Meanwhile, his correct answers to the other questions were mostly helped by his reading (he has read a lot since childhood) and constant interest in sports,” wrote journalist P. Kvedarienė in 2002.
“When asked if A. Valinskas’ ‘nagging’ bothered him, the Pakruojis native replied that on the contrary – the host’s vitality is contagious, giving positive, not negative emotions,” the article continues.
Finally, V. Dambrauskas stopped when asked which country in the world publishes the most newspapers (the correct answer was Japan), and left the show having won 4000 litas.
“Valdas regrets not getting into the ‘million’ shown a week earlier, where he would have performed twice as well – as sitting in front of the screen, he knew all the answers then!” concludes the 2002 ‘Auksinė varpa’ article.
However, even that 4000 litas later became ‘golden’. V. Dambrauskas invested it in a trip to England, where he obtained a higher education at London MET University – graduating in ‘Sports Science and Coaching’.
In England, the Pakruojis native also began his coaching career, and his first team was the amateur team ‘Kingsbury London Tigers’, which at the time played in the 9th league.
V. Dambrauskas worked in football academies in England, including ‘Manchester United’, London’s ‘Fulham’, and ‘Brentford’.
Returning to Lithuania, the young specialist took up work with the country’s youth teams U17 (2009–2010) and U19 (2011–2012).
In 2014, V. Dambrauskas was entrusted with the helm of Panevėžys ‘Ekranas’ main team, and from 2014 to 2017 he led Vilnius ‘Žalgiris’. After this stage, the specialist’s career turned abroad.
V. Dambrauskas’ career path abroad:
2017–2020 RFS (Latvia)
2020–2021 HNK ‘Gorica’ (Croatia)
2021 Razgrad ‘Ludogorec’ (Bulgaria)
2021–2022 Split ‘Hajduk’ (Croatia)
2022–2023 Crete OFI (Greece)
2024 Nicosia ‘Omonia’ (Cyprus)
2025 Miskolc DVTK (Hungary)
from 2025 Baku ‘Sabah’ (Azerbaijan)
V. Dambrauskas has publicly stated his biggest career dream several times – to hear the Champions League anthem with his players before matches.
This wish finally came true after triumphing in the qualifying rounds.
VIDEO: Sabah – H. Beer Sheva 5-2. Historic qualification: they scored the winning goal in the 90+4 minute with Kovacs at the center
Sabah – H. Beer Sheva 5-2. Historic qualification: they scored the winning goal in the 90+4 minute with Kovacs at the center
Having completed a film-worthy journey, the Pakruojis native became the first coach from Lithuania to work in the main stage of the Champions League.
V. Dambrauskas and ‘Sabah’ opponents on the biggest football club stage will be revealed on Friday, when this season’s draw is held at UEFA headquarters.
