Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson dies after long cancer battle as Liverpool pays tribute

The football community is mourning the loss of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the esteemed former England manager, who has passed away at 76.

Eriksson's illustrious career saw him at the helm of the England team for 67 matches from 2001 to 2006, guiding the squad through two World Cups and a European Championship, consistently reaching the quarter-finals.

Before his passing, he served as the sporting director for Karlstad in Sweden but stepped down in February 2023 after revealing his battle with terminal pancreatic cancer.

Tributes poured in from across the globe, and Eriksson was even granted his lifelong wish to manage a charity match at Anfield for Liverpool , the club he supported as a boy, against Ajax. Liverpool has since posted a tribute to Eriksson on X, it read: "Rest in peace, Sven-Göran Eriksson. The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Sven’s family and friends at this extremely sad time."

An Amazon Prime documentary captured Eriksson's poignant final words to his supporters: "I had a good life," he reflected. "I think we are all scared of the day when we die, but life is about death as well. You have to learn to accept it for what it is. Hopefully at the end people will say, yeah, he was a good man, but everyone will not say that."

"I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do. Don't be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds, it's been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it. Bye."

Eriksson's illustrious career in club management saw him lift 18 trophies, including the Serie A title with Lazio in the 1999-2000 season and three Portuguese Primeira Liga titles with Benfica. Before these triumphs, he led IFK Goteborg to UEFA Cup glory in 1982, marking a historic first continental success for a Swedish team.

The first manager to secure league and cup doubles in three different countries, Eriksson's golden era was at Lazio, where he not only clinched the Italian league title but also bagged two Italian Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

In an unprecedented move, he left the Italian club to join the England national team in January 2001, becoming the Three Lions' first ever non-British coach when he took over from Kevin Keegan.

Within a year, he steered England to a legendary 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, a feat only achieved through a breathtaking last-minute David Beckham free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford.

England managed to secure a group stage win over Argentina at the finals in Korea and Japan, before bowing out to Brazil in the quarter-finals.

The Three Lions then suffered penalty shoot-out heartbreak against Portugal in the quarter-finals of both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. Following these defeats, Eriksson stepped down from his role after five years of intense public scrutiny, during which he was frequently in the news for his affair with TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, betraying his glamorous Italian wife Nancy Dell'Olio.

He also had a brief relationship with FA secretary Faria Alam in 2004.

A year after his England departure, Eriksson took the reins at Manchester City, where he remained for just one season despite winning over the fans. He also had a year-long stint at Leicester City between 2010 and 2011, following an unsuccessful period as director of football at Notts County.

In addition to his time in England and successful spells in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, Eriksson managed teams in Mexico, Ivory Coast, China and the Philippines.

He was visibly moved when given the chance to manage Liverpool for their 4-2 victory over Ajax in a charity match at Anfield in March.

"I was a little bit crying," he admitted. "That will be a huge memory in life. To sit on the bench for Liverpool has been my dream my whole life and now it happened. Thank you to Liverpool for giving me the opportunity."