Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Swedish manager who spent five years as England’s first foreign-born manager after making his name winning trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died Monday. He was 76. Eriksson died at home surrounded by his family, his agent Bo Gustavsson told The Associated Press. His death came eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most a year to live.
The news prompted an outpouring of affection and tributes from former players and clubs, a biographical documentary and a visit to his favourite club Liverpool, who invited him to coach a charity match for a day.
Affectionately known as “Svennis” in his native Sweden, Eriksson enjoyed a modest nine-year playing career before retiring at the age of 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 a matter of months, he led an underperforming team to a signature upset victory: 5-1 against Germany in Munich in a World Cup qualifier.
Eriksson led what was hailed as a “golden generation” of players, including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and led the team to the quarter-finals at both tournaments before being eliminated by Brazil and Portugal respectively.
At Eriksson’s other major tournament (Euro 2004), England were also eliminated in the quarter-finals by Portugal on penalties, as they had been at the 2006 World Cup.
Eriksson’s time in one of the most important jobs in world football was remembered almost as much for what happened on the pitch as off. He had two affairs (one with Swedish television personality Ulrika Jonsson and the other with a Football Association secretary, Faria Alam) that kept the English newspapers busy, eager for gossip.
“My private life was not very private in England,” Eriksson said in 2018.
His time in England coincided with the rise of a WAG (wives and girlfriends) culture, with high-profile partners of players – such as Victoria Beckham – making headlines after Eriksson allowed them to attend the World Cup in Germany.
Eriksson later had brief spells in charge of the national teams of Mexico, Ivory Coast and the Philippines, but the only trophies he won were at club level. With Swedish side IFK Gothenburg, he won the league and cup double in 1982 and capped a spectacular season by also winning the now-defunct UEFA Cup.
Eriksson won two consecutive Portuguese titles in 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, losing to AC Milan, and win the league again in 1991.
It was in Italy that he became a major name as a coach, mainly at Lazio, after spells at Roma (1984-87) and Sampdoria (1992-97), where he won the Coppa Italia, and Fiorentina (1987-89).
At Lazio between 1997 and 2001, he led the team to its second league title (in 2000) after a late-season collapse by Juventus, as well as two Italian Cups and the last edition of the European Cup Winners’ Cup (in 1999).
Eriksson’s Lazio could also have won Serie A in 1999, but were beaten by a point by AC Milan and also lost the UEFA Cup final in 1998.
“It was the best period of my career,” Eriksson said of winning seven trophies in a four-year period, at a time when Italy was rivalling Spain as Europe’s top soccer league.
Eriksson benefited from owner Sergio Cragnotti’s heavy investment in Lazio, with the team winning the Scudetto featuring big names such as Juan Sebastian Veron, Pavel Nedved and Sinisa Mihajlovic. This continued the following season when the Roman club, looking to win the Champions League, spent a world record fee to sign Hernan Crespo and also fellow striker Claudio Lopez, but Eriksson did not finish the season after being lured by the England national team.
He also spent two years as a club manager in England, at Manchester City (2007–08) and Leicester (2010–11), before and after a spell as director of football at fourth-tier Notts County after they briefly reached the level of money (following their purchase by a Middle Eastern consortium) that could attract a high-profile name like Eriksson.
The bespectacled, blunt-spoken Eriksson was well-liked by his players throughout his coaching career and was regarded as an excellent manager. He exuded a calm authority in the dressing room and was never afraid to make important decisions, such as selling Guiseppe Signori (Lazio’s captain and star striker) because Eriksson did not believe the player was a good influence. Lazio won the league the following season.
Eriksson finished his coaching career managing 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 be stepping down from his role due to health reasons.
They became widely known 11 months later, when Eriksson told Swedish Radio that he had terminal cancer, saying: “At best, maybe I’ll have a year left, at worst, maybe a little less.” “I could go and think about it all the time and sit at home and be grumpy and think that I’m unlucky and stuff like that,” he said. “I think it’s easy to do that, that you end up there.
“No, look at things positively and don’t let yourself be carried away by adversity.
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