Caroline Frost
Sven-Goran Eriksson died Monday morning aged 76, his family in Sweden has confirmed.
The former England football had announced a year before that he had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.
Eriksson, who was England’s first non-English national team manager when he was appointed in 2001, enjoyed triumphs and tribulations in the role which he kept for five years. Although he oversaw England’s historic victory over Germany in 2001, he was criticised for not being able to channel the talents of his squad, which included Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, into winning any international silverware.
Off the pitch, his private life delivered more tabloid headlines than any other football manager in British history. His affairs with TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson and Football Association secretary Faria Alam kept him on the front pages as much as the back pages of the newspapers – although when he was eventually sacked from his England manager role, it was not because of affairs of the heart, but affairs of the wallet – he had been busted having lucrative chats with rival team bosses.
In an intimate documentary titled Sven released only last week on Amazon Prime, the serene Swede looked back on all of this with impressive equanimity. He said simply: “Life goes on.” He appeared equally calm about his failing health, sharing on camera: “I have had a good life. Smile.”