VALDAS DAMBRAUSKAS was a gardener and a handyman who spent his days polishing floors in a pub just 22 years ago, all while desperately attempting to make it as a coach in the Manchester United soccer schools.
Tomorrow night, the Sabah manager will finally step into the Old Trafford dugout, looking to impale the Red Devils and pull off the ultimate Champions League giant-killing.
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It is a mouth-watering clash that, financially and in terms of his skyrocketing reputation, will be absolutely huge for his career and for his club.
All eyes will be on the ambitious Azerbaijani minnows, based in the town of Masazir, as they step into the spotlight.
But backing himself to play for the ultimate prize is something Dambrauskas is well used to.
After all, the charismatic boss is a former contestant on the Lithuanian version of the hit quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? back in 2002.
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He scooped roughly £725 when he played in the hot seat – 4,000 litas at the time – and immediately used his winnings to fund a ticket to London to chase his dream of being a top-flight coach.
Aged just 25, Dambrauskas arrived in the UK capital in 2002 armed only with a student visa and limited ability to speak the language.
But what he lacked in linguistics, he more than made up for in grit, determination, and perseverance.
After enrolling on a sports science and coaching course at London Metropolitan University, he volunteered his time with the Access to Sports project in Finsbury Park.
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He also cut his managerial teeth working with London Tigers, taking his first steps into the world of English Non-League football.
Then came his first massive opportunity with Man United, when their Soccer Schools gave him a shot in 2004.
He later worked for both Fulham and Brentford, admitting that he had to juggle various other gruelling jobs at the time just to make a living and keep his dream alive.
He said: “I was a gardener, a handyman, doing newspaper rounds at the beginning, also polishing floors in a pub.
“So many jobs. Working in retail, and then as a sports development officer, then a sports development manager, and the central YMCA.
“I was doing two, three, sometimes four jobs.”
He eventually left England to return to his native Lithuania, where local champions Ekranas made him assistant first-team and reserve-team coach at the end of 2010.
Four years later, he landed the top job as manager of Zalgiris Vilnius. who are the biggest club in the country, based in a capital city famous for its excellent Christmas markets and for being a moody filming location in Netflix‘s hit show Stranger Things.
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Dambrauskas, though, became no stranger to winning.
He lifted two league titles, three Lithuanian Cups, and two Lithuanian Super Cups across three stunning seasons, including a historic domestic treble ten years ago.
He then spent time managing in Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, and Hungary over the next nine nomadic years.
That journey led him to Sabah in Azerbaijan, where he has already stormed to a league and cup double in his very first campaign.
Plenty of glittering trophies, plenty of clubs, and plenty of countries now sees him, aged 49, rock up at Old Trafford tomorrow (THU).
It is a world-famous stadium that he once merely gazed out at during a job interview in Manchester all those years ago.
But it is not only the Theatre of Dreams where he will have the opportunity to manage on the biggest stage.
Sabah will return to the UK to play Arsenal in January, while also hosting European royalty in Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, and Napoli on their home turf.
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The odds of Sabah hitting the jackpot with a shock win in any of those blockbuster games might be slim, but Dambrauskas is relishing it – particularly the games at Old Trafford and the Emirates – two places close to his heart.
He told BBC Sport: “It’s beyond my imagination really. I’ve been many times in Old Trafford with the kids from Man United Soccer Schools course and now I’m going to come as a coach.
“I’m going to go through that tunnel, on that pitch at the biggest club in the world. It’s truly an amazing experience.
“I lived in England during that battle between Manchester United and Arsenal, the biggest rivals of that time with Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
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“I studied in London Metropolitan University where the computer classes used to be at the tenth and eleventh floor and in front of us the Emirates Stadium was being built on Holloway Road and now I am going to come back as a coach and hear that anthem of course, it’s really amazing.
“But I need to stay humble and work really hard. It’s not a one-off experience, but we can really grow and take the best of what we can get from this competition, from that experience to take all the positives, learn from the negatives and know that it is to make sure that it is not a one-off adventure.”