Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who spent five years as England’s first foreign-born manager after making his name winning club titles in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on Monday at the age of 76.
His agent, Bo Gustafsson, told The Associated Press that Eriksson died at home surrounded by his family.
His death came eight months after he revealed that he had pancreatic cancer and had only one year to live.
The news led to an outpouring of affection and praise for Eriksson from his former players and clubs, a documentary about his biography, and a visit to His favorite club is Liverpool. Who invited him to be a manager for a day at a charity match.
Eriksson, known as ‘Svens’ in his native Sweden, had a modest playing career of nine years before retiring at the age of 27 and embarking on a peripatetic coaching career that culminated in his appointment as England manager in 2001.
Within months, he led an underachieving team to a stunning 5-1 win over Germany in Munich in a World Cup qualifier.
Eriksson led what was considered a “golden generation” of players, including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, leading the team to the quarter-finals in both tournaments before being eliminated by Brazil and Portugal respectively.
In the only other major tournament under Eriksson – Euro 2004 – England also went out in the quarter-finals, to Portugal on penalties, as they had done in the 2006 World Cup.
“We laughed, we cried, and we knew we were saying goodbye.” Beckham wrote in an Instagram post: Along with footage from his last meeting with Eriksson, who made him captain of the national team.
“Sven, thank you for always being the person you were – compassionate, caring, calm, and a true gentleman. I will forever be grateful to you for making me your leader, but I will always cherish these final memories of this day with you and your family… Thank you Sven and your final words to me, “It will all be okay.”
Eriksson’s time in one of the most prominent positions in world football was remembered for its off-field events as much as its on-field ones. Eriksson had two affairs – with Swedish TV personality Ulrika Jonsson and a Football Association secretary, Faria Alam – which kept the gossip-hungry English tabloids busy.
“My private life was not very private in England,” Eriksson said in 2018.
His time with England coincided with the emergence of wife-girlfriend culture, with high-profile players’ partners – such as Victoria Beckham – making headlines after Eriksson allowed them to attend the World Cup in Germany.
Eriksson then had short stints as coach of Mexico, Ivory Coast and the Philippines, but the only titles he won were in club matches.
At Swedish club IFK Gothenburg, he won the league and cup in 1982 and capped a stunning season by also winning the (now defunct) UEFA Cup.
Eriksson won two consecutive Portuguese league titles during an initial two-year spell with Benfica (1982–84), as well as the Portuguese Cup in 1983, and returned there to reach the European Cup final in 1990 – where they lost to Milan – and won the league again in 1991.
He became a prominent figure in the coaching world in Italy, especially at Lazio, after spells at Roma (1984-87), Sampdoria (1992-97) – where he won the Coppa Italia – and Fiorentina (1987-89).
At Lazio from 1997 to 2001, he led the team to only its second league title – in 2000 – after its end-of-season collapse at the hands of Juventus, as well as two Coppa Italias and the last edition of the European Cup Winners’ Cup (in 1999).
Eriksson’s Lazio could have won the Italian league in 1999 as well, but they lost the title by one point to Milan, and they also lost the UEFA Cup final in 1998.
“It was the best period of my career,” Eriksson said of winning seven titles in four years, at a time when Italy were competing with Spain for Europe’s top league title.
Eriksson benefited from owner Sergio Cragnotti’s heavy spending at Lazio, with the Serie A-winning side bringing in big names such as Juan Sebastian Veron, Pavel Nedved and Sinisa Mihajlovic. This continued the following season when the Roman club, chasing Champions League glory, spent a world record fee on Hernan Crespo and also bought fellow Argentine striker Claudio Lopez, but Eriksson did not finish the season after being lured by the England job.
He also had two two-year spells in club management in England, at Manchester City (2007-08) and Leicester City (2010-11), along with a spell as director of football at Fourth Division club Notts County after briefly entering the kind of money – bought by a Middle Eastern consortium – that could attract a high-profile name like Eriksson.
The bespectacled, plain-spoken Eriksson was hugely popular with his players throughout his coaching career and was seen as an excellent manager. He had a quiet authority in the dressing room and was never afraid to make big decisions, such as selling Giuseppe Signori – Lazio’s captain and star striker – because Eriksson didn’t think the player was a good influence. Lazio won the league the following season.
Eriksson ended his coaching career with two clubs in China – Guangzhou and Shanghai SIPG – and most recently served as sporting director at Karlstad, a team in Sweden’s third division, before announcing in February 2023 that he would step down for health reasons.
They became widely known 11 months later when Eriksson told Swedish Radio that he had terminal cancer, saying: “At best I may live a year, at worst maybe a little less.”
“I can think about it all the time and sit at home and be angry and think I’m unlucky and stuff,” he said. “I think it’s easy, to end up there.
“No, look at things positively and don’t give in to difficulties, because this is of course the biggest obstacle you face.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Eriksson “is still alive in the hearts of the Swedish people”.
“The importance of Svenis for football, in Sweden and beyond, cannot be overstated,” Kristersson said. “I can only imagine how many girls and boys have started playing football – and dared to dream – thanks to his efforts. Thank you for everything Svenis!”
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Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.
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AP Football: https://apnews.com/hub/football
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