Sven-Göran Eriksson announced today that he has terminal cancer and declared: ‘I have to fight as long as possible’.
The former England manager, 75, fears he has another year to live, or at worst slightly less, after last year’s bombshell diagnosis.
He said: ‘Everyone understands that I have a disease that is not good. Everyone suspects it’s cancer, and it is. But I have to fight as long as I can.”
When asked what the prognosis is, he told Sweden’s P1 radio station that he “may have a year at best, a little less at worst, or maybe even longer at best.” You can’t be completely sure. It’s better not to think about it’.
There was speculation about his health after he stopped working as sporting director of Karlstad in his native Sweden. Today he revealed he collapsed after a run last year and found out he was seriously ill.
He said, ‘It’s not good. Everyone suspected it was cancer, and it was. But I have to fight while I can.
‘But you can fool your brain. See the positive in things, don’t wallow in setbacks, because this is of course the biggest setback, but make something good out of it.’
Sven Goran Eriksson has said on Swedish radio that he has cancer and may only have a year to live
The football manager was England boss between 2001 and 2006. Sven pictured with David Beckham after being dumped out of the 2006 World Cup by Portugal in the quarter-final
Sven with his former partner Nancy Dell’olio
Sven told P1 that he had suddenly collapsed during a 5km run.
After visiting his doctors, it turned out that Eriksson had suffered a stroke and also had cancer.
He said, “They don’t know how long I’ve had cancer, maybe a month or a year.”
In a glittering managerial career, Sven was boss of IFK Göteborg, Benfica, Roma, Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Lazio, Manchester City and Leicester City.
He was also manager of Mexico, Ivory Coast and the Philippines.
But while in charge of England for five years, he became the most famous football manager in the world.
Between 2001 and 2006 he managed the so-called ‘golden generation’ of stars such as David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, but never won the expected major trophy.
Eriksson returned to his long-term partner, Italian lawyer Nancy Dell’Olio
Rumors about Eriksson’s relationship with TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson emerged in 2002 and were later confirmed. Ulrika said sex with Sven-Göran Eriksson was as boring as building an Ikea bookcase
Eriksson’s affair with FA secretary Faria Alam was all over the newspapers in 2004
His tragic diagnosis came almost exactly 22 years after he resigned as manager of Lazio, before taking up his coaching role with England.
The Swede had signed a five-year contract three months earlier to take over in the summer of 2001.
Eriksson said his Lazio side were ‘one of the best in the world’ and he was probably right.
But that ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to manage England, and the £3million salary that came with it, proved too good to pass up.
Eriksson quickly revived a long-failing England team. The team’s thumping 5–1 victory over Germany provided plenty of optimism and turned the 2002 World Cup qualifying group, even if Beckham’s last-minute free-kick against Greece was needed to set up a tricky play-off with Ukraine to prevent.
The intimate details of his affair with TV presenter and compatriot Ulrika Jonsson dominated the front and back pages for weeks before Eriksson returned to long-term partner Nancy Dell’Olio, an Italian lawyer.
Eriksson demanded that his private life remain private, but the job was too much in the white-hot glare of the spotlight for that to be washed away.
On the pitch, England powered through their World Cup group but gained momentum by battering Denmark.
In the quarter-final against Brazil, England led through Owen, but David Seaman’s unfortunate misjudgment of Ronaldinho’s glancing free-kick five minutes after half-time saw them fall behind.
“We wanted Winston Churchill and we got Iain Duncan Smith,” Southgate famously said of Eriksson’s lame team talk at half-time, but it was his dithering over substitutions and tactics when Ronaldinho was sent off with 33 minutes to go that ultimately saved England cost.
Sven Goran Eriksson as manager of Lazio in Rome
England’s unforgettable 5-1 win in Munich offered hope that Eriksson could achieve success
David Beckham’s final free-kick against Greece sent England to the 2002 World Cup
But David Seaman’s terrible misjudgment of Ronaldinho’s free-kick cost England in 2002
Eriksson took England to three major quarter-finals, losing twice on penalties. Their first defeat came at the 2004 European Champions. Beckham fired his penalty over the crossbar (above)
At the 2006 World Cup, England crashed out again against Portugal after Rooney’s red card
England will probably never have a better chance of winning a World Cup. If they had beaten Brazil with ten men, they would have played Turkey in the semi-finals and a German team they had recently beaten 5-1 in the final.
Eriksson moved on, but a year later he was spotted with Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon, leading to on-paper speculation that he was about to reap the benefits of Roman Abramovich’s arrival.
In the end it was the FA who panicked and tabled a contract extension until 2008 for £5 million a year.
And when an England side booed at Upton Park after losing a friendly against Australia and could only draw 2-2 at home to Macedonia before qualifying for Euro 2004, the omens were not good.
So it turned out. Recovering from the opening night defeat to France, a team reinforced by 18-year-old Rooney swept aside Switzerland and Croatia to set up a quarter-final against hosts Portugal.
Once again England squandered an early lead from Owen before Sol Campbell saw a goal disallowed in extra time and the inevitable departure on penalties.
The talents of the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ were clearly wasted, but sacking Sven was too expensive for the FA to consider.
He continued working, but when the details of his affair with FA secretary Faria Alam came to light two months after the tournament, another bit of credibility was lost.
It was easy to see in the tabloid a contrast between his impassive observations from the couch and the apparent energy behind closed curtains.
By the time the 2006 World Cup came around, Eriksson had been duped by the News of the World’s ‘Fake Sheikh’ Mazher Mahmood, betraying confidentiality about players and clubs.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick shortened Eriksson’s contract, with a lower payout, and told him to achieve success at the tournament in Germany. But they failed again in the quarterfinals.