Sa Valdas Dambrauskas ya fita daga cikin ramin Old Trafford a ranar Alhamis don jagorantar Sabah a marhalar rukuni na UEFA Champions League, zai nuna cikakkiyar yawon tafiya da ya fara da wasan tambayoyi na Lithuania da kyautar kusan £725.

Kocin nan dan ƙasar Lithuania mai shekara 49 ya shaida wa BBC Sport cewa yana ƙara iya gaskata wannan lokaci. "Wannan ya wuce iyakar tsammani na," in ji shi. "Wucewa ta cikin wannan rami don isa filin wasa. Na je Old Trafford sau da yawa tare da yara, amma yanzu zan zo a matsayin koci."

Wasan tambayoyi da ya canja komai

A shekarar 2002, Dambrauskas ya shiga fagen Lithuanian na Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ya kuma fita da litas 4,000 — kusan daidai da £725 a wancan lokaci, watau kusan albashin watanni shida na ma'aikacin Lithuanian na gari.

Ya yi amfani da kuɗin don koma London, yana ɗauke da wata manufa ɗaya: samun lasisi na horo kuma ya dawo Lithuania wata rana a matsayin kocin ƙwallon ƙafa. 'Yan kaɗan ne da za su yi tsammanin inda wannan yanke shawarar zai kai a ƙarshe.

"Kowa yanzu yana ɗaukar wannan ɓangare kawai, game da kuɗin," in ji Dambrauskas yana murmushi. "Amma eh, labari na gaskiya ne."

Shekaru takwas na aiki tuƙuru a Ingila

Dambrauskas ya isa London a watan Agusta na 2002 yana da shekara 25, yana da visa na ɗalibi da Turancin da bai cika ba. Abin da ya biyo baya kusan shekaru goma na ƙoƙari marar tsayawa — horar da ayyukan al'umma, yin aikin sa-kai tare da Access to Sports a Finsbury Park, da hawan matsayi a London Tigers har ya zama manajan ƙungiyar farko a Spartan South Midlands League, FA Cup, da FA Vase.

A shekarar 2004 ya yi rajista a London Metropolitan University don karantar da kimiyyar wasanni da horo, sannan daga baya ya zama Ba-Lithuania na farko da ya sami lasisi na kocin Uefa ta hanyar London Football Association.

Don biyan bukatunsa na yau da kullum, yana yin ayyuka da yawa lokaci guda. "Na kasance mai shuka, mai aikin hannu, ina kai jaridar farko, kuma ina share ƙasa a gidan sha," in ji shi. "Na yi ayyuka biyu, uku, wani lokaci huɗu."

Nasarar sa ta farko ta sana'a ta zo sa'ad da Manchester United Soccer Schools suka ba shi matsayinsa na farko a ƙungiyar ƙwararru a 2004. Ya shafe shekaru biyar yana gudanar da kwasa-kwasan horo a United Kingdom da Turai, sannan ya yi taƙaitaccen lokacinsa a Fulham da Brentford — inda daraktan kwalejin matasa Ose Aibangee ya zama ɗaya daga cikin mahimman malumansa.

"Ingila ta ba ni duk wannan kuma zan kasance da godiya har abada," in ji Dambrauskas. Alaƙar da Ingila ta dawwama: Sabah kuma ana sa ran za su fuskanci Arsenal a Champions League a watan Janairu, kuma ɗaya daga cikin gine-ginen London Metropolitan University a Holloway Road ta taɓa kallo zuwa Emirates Stadium.

Trophies goma sha uku a ƙasashe biyar

Dambrauskas ya bar Ingila a ƙarshen 2010 don shiga ƙungiyar Ekranas ta Lithuania — 'yan wasan da suka lashe gasar — a matsayin mataimakin koci, kafin ya ɗauki ragamar Zalgiris Vilnius — ƙungiyar da ta fi shahara a Lithuania — inda ya lashe gasar sau biyu, Kofuna na Lithuania uku, da Super Cups guda biyu, ɗaya daga cikinsu ita ce treble ta 2016.

A cikin shekaru tara da suka biyo baya, ya jagoranci ƙungiyoyi takwas a ƙasashe bakwai: RFS a Latvia inda ya lashe Latvian Cup; Gorica a Croatia; Ludogorets Razgrad a Bulgaria ya ƙara lashe gasar sau uku, Super Cup, da tabbatar da shiga Europa League; Hajduk Split a Croatia inda ƙungiyar ta kawo ƙarshen fari na trophies na shekaru 10 ta hanyar lashe Croatian Cup; OFI Crete a Girka; Omonia a Cyprus; da Diosgyori a Hungary.

Ya isa Sabah a lokacin bazara na 2025, kuma a kakarsa ta farko ya jagoranci ƙungiyar Azerbaijan zuwa gasar ƙoli na farko a tarihinsa tare da lashe kofin double — ya kai jimlar trophies 13 a ƙasashe biyar.

Champions League ta hanyar wahala

Isa Champions League ya buƙaci Sabah su wuce zagaye huɗu masu cin gaba na kwalifikeshon — nasara da babu wata ƙungiya da ta yi daga zagaye na farko na kwalifikeshon. A hanya sun fitar da TNS na Wales, KuPS na Finland, Aarhus na Denmark, da Hapoel Beer-Sheva na Isra'ila.

Wasan kwalifikeshon na ƙarshe ya ƙare ta hanyar ban mamaki. Sabah suna kan gab da fita daga gasar sa'ad da Tellur Mutallimov ya zura kwallo a minti na 94 ya tilasta sauran lokaci. Daga ƙarshe sun yi nasara 5-2 a wasan da 6-4 a jimilar.

Sabah suna zaune a Masazir — gari da yawan mutanensa bai wuce 19,000 ba, mai nisan kimanin kilomita 50 arewacin babban birnin Azerbaijan, Baku. An kafa ƙungiyar da aka fi sani da Owls a 2017 kawai, kuma za ta yi bikin ranar haihuwar ta tara a ranar Talata. Filin wasan su na Bank Respublika Arena, da ƙarfin ɗaukar mutane ƙasa da 9,000, bai cika ka'idojin Uefa ba; don haka wasannin gida na Champions League za a taka su a Olympic Stadium da ke Baku. Abokan hamayyarsu a marhalar rukuni sun haɗa da Borussia Dortmund da Barcelona.

"Bamu taɓa shiga Conference League ba, bamu taɓa shiga Europa League ba," in ji Dambrauskas yana tunani. "Bamu taɓa wuce zagaye biyu a jere a kowace gasa ba, kuma ba zato ba tsammani muna nan."