the death of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the first foreign coach of the England team – Libération

2024-08-26 14:32:44

He died this Monday, August 26 at the age of 76 after cancer, Sven-Goran Eriksson Swede was captain of England’s Three Lions team from 2001 to 2006.

At the head of the golden generation of Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney, he was England’s first foreign coach. Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson died on Monday August 26 at the age of 76 from pancreatic cancer.

After making his illness public in the advanced stage at the beginning of 2024, in March he finished his “dream” to coach the Liverpool team for a charity match. “Now it happened and it was a beautiful day, in every sense of the word,” he announced, moved. The former coach of the England team (2001-2006), quarter-finalist of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups with the Three Lions, expressed his undying love for Liverpool and his regret that he was not able to coach this team.

If Sven-Goran Eriksson did not get the best of the gifted generation during his career, he brought stability and rigor to the selection. So far he has always been criticized for his lack of audacity in the game and in the management of his team.

Four chickens

Expected at the time by the media, Sven-Goran Eriksson made his debut, as during the 5-1 victory over Germany in the 2002 World Cup, or when the free kick from David Beckham against Greece for his team’s right. During this World Cup, England lost in the quarterfinals to Brazil, the eventual winner. The event was repeated at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, where England stayed level, each time on penalties against Portugal.

Known as cold and distant, Sven-Goran Eriksson nevertheless came to the aid of his players, like Wayne Rooney, after his red card in the quarter-finals in 2006. “I think you, more than me, need Wayne Rooney. He is the golden boy of English football, so don’t kill him.” he announced. But the British tabloids, previously the source of revelations about the affairs of his marriage, got under his skin. A few months before the 2006 World Cup, he was trapped, like other celebrities, by a journalist from the youth. Report of the Worlddisguised as a sheikh. Sven-Goran Eriksson discussed with him his departure from his position as coach and the possible acquisition of Aston Villa, an English football club based in Birmingham.

“I would have been kicked out anyway after the 2006 World Cup because we were not good at regionals. I can understand that. But I don’t agree and understand how the News of the World is so important. I said to the Federation, “Do you believe them or not?” he explained in 2022 to SkyNews. In August 2006, his contract with the British federation ended. “They also say that my weakness is that I love women. Who doesn’t love them? ” it is still progressing.

Soccer, his “drug”.

But, more than anything, Sven-Goran Eriksson loves football, his “drug” he said, which will cost him a divorce. Like Carlo Ancelotti, he did not manage his country’s selection, Sweden, but he succeeded at the club level. Indeed, his record is more moderate than that of his Italian counterpart, but he has a UEFA Cup with the Swedish city of Gothenburg (1982), titles with Benfica Lisbon (Portuguese champion three times, one Cup) and above all Cup Winners . Cup, the European Super Cup and the Italian Cup with the Italian club Lazio di Rome, which leads to the second scudetto of its history in the year 2000.

In England, his short experiences in Manchester and Leicester were not crowned with success. In the 2000s, Sven-Goran Eriksson confirmed his international character as the stealth coach of Mexico, Ivory Coast and the Philippines, also coaching several Chinese teams. When football left in time, it was in Sunne, his hometown, on the banks of Lake Fryken, Sven-Goran Eriksson preferred to settle. It was at his Swedish home in Björkefors, surrounded by his family, that he died on Monday.