STOCKHOLM – Sven-Goran Eriksson, the charismatic Swedish football manager who became the first foreigner to lead the England national team, died on Monday at the age of 76.
Eriksson announced in January that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
‘After a long illness, SGE died during the morning at home surrounded by family,’ his family said in a statement.
Widely regarded as the greatest Swedish manager, Eriksson won major titles in his home country, Portugal and Italy before leading England in three major tournaments during the early 2000s.
After a mediocre playing career, he gained international recognition by guiding unfashionable Swedish club IFK Gothenburg to the UEFA Cup title in 1982, the only Swedish team to win a European trophy.
Heavily influenced by the English football revered in Sweden in the 1970s and 80s, Eriksson used a pragmatic playing style and a 4-4-2 formation for most of his managerial career. While tactically astute, Eriksson saw his biggest strength as a builder of teams with the right character.
‘The group is the most important thing. Not only the players, but their families as well. The whole club, including the masseurs and the kitchen staff, we are all one group,’ he said.
When he arrived at Italy’s Lazio in 1997, Eriksson demanded that the president sell club captain and star player Giuseppe Signori because he was a bad influence on the group.
‘He didn’t have the right attitude, he had been at the club for a long time and was too negative,’ Eriksson said. ‘Instead I took in great players, like (Juan Sebastian) Veron and (Roberto) Mancini, who were hungry and professional.’
The Lazio fans were enraged by the decision and stormed the training facility but within six months Eriksson had turned the mood around and went on to win seven trophies with Lazio, including the club’s second Italian league title.
Mancini, who Eriksson formed a close bond with at Fiorentina and Lazio, and who went on to manage Manchester City and Italy, said Eriksson had become like a father to him.
‘Or bigger brother, I should perhaps say, to not insult him,’ he said.
Career as England manager
Eriksson became England manager in 2001. When asked how it felt to become the first non-Briton to lead the team, the soft-spoken Swede smiled and said ‘not bad.’
It was an indication of why he had earned the nickname of ‘the rubber wall’ in Italy for absorbing, but rarely rising to, media provocation – a trait that served him well when dealing with the English football press pack and made him popular with his players.
Nine months after his arrival, a stunning 5-1 away World Cup qualifying win over Germany erased any doubts over the decision to appoint him.
Managing a golden generation of players, including David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, Eriksson guided England to the 2002 World Cup, where they lost to eventual winners Brazil in the quarterfinals.
England qualified for the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup but exited both tournaments in the quarterfinals after penalty shootout defeats by Portugal.
Eriksson’s relationship with the press soured over the years. His tumultuous personal life was front-page news and he was caught out in a undercover sting saying he would leave England for Aston Villa ahead of the 2006 World Cup.
After revealing in January that he had terminal pancreatic cancer, Eriksson received warm welcomes at the stadiums of many of his former clubs. He led Liverpool from the bench in a charity match, a life-long ambition of his.
Beckham, Eriksson’s England captain, went to visit him in Sweden and many of his former players sent public messages.
‘He’s probably the most humane coach I have had,’ Rooney said in a documentary about Eriksson.