Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Swedish soccer manager who spent five years as England’s first ever foreign-born coach after making his name winning trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on Monday. He was 76.
Eriksson died at home surrounded by his family, his agent Bo Gustavsson said.
His death came eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most one year to live.
Photo: AFP
That news led to Eriksson receiving a surge of affection and tributes from his former players and clubs, a biographical documentary being made, and a visit to his favorite club Liverpool, which invited him to be manager for the day at a charity game.
“As a coach, Sven-Goran was both a great innovator and a true ambassador of our beautiful game,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino, one of many leading figures in the sport to pay tribute to Eriksson.
Fondly known as “Svennis” in his native Sweden, Eriksson had a modest, nine-year playing career before retiring at age 27 and embarking on what proved to be a nomadic coaching career that reached its peak when he was hired by England in 2001.
Within months, he led an underachieving team to a stunning signature win — 5-1 against Germany in Munich in a World Cup qualifying game.
Eriksson led what was regarded as a “golden generation” of players, including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, at the World Cups in 2002 and 2006, and got the team to the quarter-finals at both tournaments before they were eliminated by Brazil and Portugal respectively.
In the only other major tournament under Eriksson — the 2004 UEFA Euro — England was also ousted at the quarter-final stage, by Portugal and in a penalty shoot-out like at the World Cup in 2006.
“We laughed, we cried and we knew we were saying goodbye,” Beckham wrote in a post on Instagram alongside footage of a recent meeting with Eriksson, who made him captain of the national team. “Sven, thank you for always being the person you have always been — passionate, caring, calm and a true gentleman. I will be forever grateful for you making me your captain but I will forever hold these last memories of this day with you and your family... Thank you Sven and in your last words to me, ‘It will be ok.’”
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS