A successful club coach, Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died Monday aged 76 from cancer, was the first foreign coach of England, an honour he failed to turn into success at the helm of the golden generation of Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney.
In the autumn of his life, before the pancreatic cancer that took him away on Monday at his home in Björkefors, surrounded by his family, the Swede already saw time slipping away.
“Everything went by too fast. Where did my life go?”he asked in The Telegraph in 2002. “I have a great life and I’m happy. It’s not like I miss being on the bench at Wembley.”
Swedish Sven-Goran Eriksson, former England football team coach, who died on August 26, 2024 at the age of 76, during a charity match in Liverpool, March 23, 2024 / Oli SCARFF / AFP/Archives
The Swede will, however, keep a special place in his memory for his five years at the head of the Three Lions (2001-2006).
Shortly after the announcement of his death, Prince William, who had met him on numerous occasions, paid tribute to him.
“I have always been impressed by his charisma and passion for the game,” he wrote on X, hailing “a true gentleman.” you football.
“It’s a very sad day. He has given unforgettable memories to the English fans”commented the head of the Federation, Mark Bullingham.
Expected at the turning point by the English media, Eriksson had succeeded in his debut, like during the 5-1 inflicted on Germany in the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup or when a free kick from David Beckham against Greece offered his team qualification.
Damn quarters
Swedish Sven-Goran Eriksson, former England football team coach, who died on August 26, 2024 at the age of 76, during a charity match in Liverpool, March 23, 2024 / Oli SCARFF / AFP/Archives
At this World Cup, England failed in the quarter-finals against Brazil, the eventual winner. The scenario was repeated at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, where the English stopped at the same stage, each time on penalties against Portugal.
If Eriksson did not get the best out of a gifted generation, he brought stability and rigor. To the point of often being criticized for his lack of audacity in the game and his pusillanimity in the management of his group.
Known as cold and distant, he nevertheless came to the aid of his players, like Wayne Rooney, after his red card in the quarter-finals in 2006. “I think you need Wayne Rooney more than I do. He’s the golden boy of English football, so don’t kill him.”
– False Sheikh –
On the other hand, the tabloids, already at the origin of revelations about his extra-marital affairs, will have his skin. A few months before the 2006 World Cup, he is trapped, like other celebrities, by a journalist disguised as a sheikh. Eriksson discusses with him in particular his departure from the position of coach and a possible takeover of Aston Villa.
“I would have been sacked anyway after the 2006 World Cup because we didn’t do well in the quarter-finals. I can understand that. But I never accepted and understood how News of the World got so big. I said to the Federation, ‘Do you believe them or do you believe me?'”he explained to SkyNews in 2022.
Globe-trotter
More than anything, Eriksson loved football, his ” drug “which would cost him a divorce. Like Carlo Ancelotti, he never managed his country’s national team, but he succeeded at club level.
Certainly, his record is more modest than that of the Italian, but he has a UEFA Cup with Gothenburg (1982), titles with Benfica and especially Lazio, which he led to the second scudetto in its history in 2000 and with whom he won the Cup Winners’ Cup, the European Super Cup and the Italian Cup, also won with AS Roma and Sampdoria. Lazio president Claudio Lotito praised “the most successful coach in history” from the Roman club, “but above all an upright man and a gentleman”.
In England, even if his brief experiences at Manchester City and Leicester were not crowned with success, the Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, whom Eriksson gave his debut at City in 2007, was keen to pay tribute to “an incredible man”.
In the 2000s, he confirmed that he was a globetrotter by being a furtive coach of Mexico, Ivory Coast and the Philippines, also training several Chinese clubs.
With the « Reds »
After making his cancer public in early 2024, he made his ” dream “ to coach Liverpool in a charity match. “It was a beautiful day”he said, very moved.
The Reds obviously paid tribute to his memory, evoking a new “terribly sad”. “One of the best and a man who will be sorely missed in the world of football”wrote on X the 2001 Ballon d’Or winner and former Liverpool striker Michael Owen.
UEFA also said: “deeply sad” of the death of this “beloved figure” of European football.
