The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast1 Sep

Sabah’s quiz show coach, Andorra’s league phase debut & Crete’s decade-long odyssey

There are some simply sensational stories to be told about the 108 league phase participants in the three UEFA club competitions this season.

For example, it’s not every day that a ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ contestant uses their winnings to become a football manager in England, starts out in the ninth tier and eventually guides a nine-year-old Azerbaijani club into the UEFA Champions League!

So how much did Lithuanian tactician Valdas Dambrauskas win to kickstart his managerial career? How has he taken Sabah to a first league title and the pinnacle of European club football in just one year? And why do the club from Maksimir play in pink?

Plus, second-tier Portuguese side Torreense prepare for a Europa League campaign in cyclone-hit Leiria, Inter Club d’Escaldes achieve an historic milestone for Andorra and Greek islanders OFI Crete complete a remarkable rebound from administration.

Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/sweeperpod for Thursday’s round-up of all the best domestic cup stories across Europe – including the Slovak tie between two clubs with the same president – plus a preview of the returning Palestinian league.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

01:10 – Sabah: The quiz show contestant

12:23 – Inter d’Escaldes: The micro-state trailblazers

21:43 – Torreense: The second-tier cup winners

26:40 – Jagiellonia Białystok: The winning Wi-Fi password

29:39 – OFI Crete: The revived islanders

33:45 – Yaya Touré, Viking, Hearts: The best of the rest

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