When The FA appointed Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has died at the age of 76, as the first overseas manager of the England men’s team in 2001, they were seeking a more studious, sophisticated approach to international football and the introduction of some much-needed tactical refinement.
During the Swede’s five years in charge, they achieved those aims, but ambitions of victory in a major tournament remained as elusive as ever.
When Eriksson left the job after the 2006 World Cup, his England side had achieved middling success – three tournament eliminations at the quarter-final stage – playing safe, at times timid, football. The country’s "golden generation" had sparkled too infrequently. The most eye-catching moments of the manager’s tenure were the front-page revelations about his private life.
But his ice-cool equanimity belied a deep passion for the game, and for life. He retained a remarkable, and endearing, sense of dry humour and perspective even when at the eye of tabloid storms. The announcement of his terminal cancer diagnosis in January 2024 was delivered with the same matter-of-fact sang froid as an unfortunate tournament exit.
“England fans always liked him,” wrote Henry Winter in The Times, “Especially after the 5-1 qualifying triumph against Germany in Munich in 2001. England players always liked him because he was invariably calm amid the storm.”
That incredible victory, in September 2001, was followed a month later by David Beckham’s added-time free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford that ensured automatic qualification for the following year’s World Cup in Japan and South Korea. By Christmas 2001, Eriksson was feted with the coach award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.
Lasting friendship
Sven-Goran Eriksson was born in February 1948 in Sunne, southern Sweden. Having been a teenage ski jumper, he played 150 senior games (from 1964-73) as a “distinctly average” defender in the lower reaches of the Swedish game. At his third and final club Karlskoga, he was influenced by the player-manager, Tord Grip, and the pair would form an enduring coaching alliance.
When Grip left Degerfors to become assistant manager to the Swedish national team, Eriksson took over as manager of the club on New Year’s Day 1977. The securing of promotion took him into the big time with IFK Gothenburg and in 1982 they became the first Swedish club to win a European trophy when they beat Hamburg 4-0 on aggregate in the two-legged UEFA Cup final.
Benfica was next on a managerial adventure that would, over more than 40 years, encompass clubs in five countries, including China, and four national teams. He won seven trophies at Lazio, including the 1999 European Cup-Winners’ Cup and the 2000 Serie A title, and quietly influenced a number of players who went on to become respected coaches.
“He made a real mark on my career,” said Sergio Conceicao, the Portuguese international and former Lazio player who would later manage Porto. “An unusually sophisticated man, fantastic leader and very, very calm. The players loved him.”
Carlo Ancelotti, made Roma captain by Eriksson, described him as “a really great coach. Eriksson brought a completely fresh approach. Preparation was meticulous. He never lost his temper, was respectful, warm and approachable in helping players”.
When the Swiss referee Urs Meier was pursued by England fans for failing to give a Sol Campbell “goal” at Euro 2004, and had to move home, Eriksson rang him to apologise.
Having steered Lazio to the Serie A scudetto, Eriksson joined England, replacing Kevin Keegan who had resigned six months earlier.
He led the team to the last eight of the World Cup in 2002 and 2006, and the 2004 European Championship. Twice they lost to Portugal on penalties, the second of which, at Gelsenkirchen in the 2006 World Cup, was, Eriksson said in 2018, “the only defeat that shook me hard, hard, hard”.
An injury to Beckham, the understrength opposition and the sending-off of Wayne Rooney all added to a sense of agonising frustration and injustice.
City calling
Almost a year to the day after leaving that role, he was back in England, as Manchester City’s first manager from outside the UK and the first Swedish manager in the Premier League.
Eleven months later he left City and became manager of Mexico.
He coached in China, as well as the national teams of Ivory Coast and the Philippines. In 2010/11, he spent a year as manager of Championship side Leicester City.
At the time of his cancer diagnosis, Eriksson revealed a long-held affection for Liverpool and the desire to have managed the club. In March 2024, he took his place in the Anfield dugout as part of a Liverpool Legends charity fixture against Ajax.
He described that moment as "absolutely beautiful" and a "huge memory" in his life, with Liverpool winning the game 4-2.
Eriksson had two children from first marriage to Ann-Christine Pettersson. He would later have a high-profile relationship with Nancy Dell’Olio, an Italian-American lawyer, before a long-term partner, Yaniseth Alcides, with whom he saw out his life in Sunne, Varmland.
Sven-Goran Eriksson was born on 5 February 1948 and died on 26 August 2024, aged 76, from pancreatic cancer.