Eriksson is terminally ill
The legendary trainer has a maximum of one year left to live
January 11, 2024, 11:03 a.m
He is the first foreigner to be allowed to coach the English national football team: Sven-Göran Eriksson. The now 75-year-old now announces that he is terminally ill. He assumes that he has a maximum of one year left to live.
Swedish coaching legend Sven-Göran Eriksson has cancer and says he doesn’t have long to live. “It’s the pancreas. You can slow it down, but you can’t operate on it,” said the 75-year-old on Swedish radio P1 and added: “I know that at best I have another year, at worst less.” Eriksson described the serious illness as “not pretty” and explained: “I will make the best of it and fight it as long as I can.”
“Svennis”, as the long-time successful coach is affectionately known in his homeland, withdrew from the public in February of last year due to health problems. During a subsequent examination, he received a devastating diagnosis of cancer.
Eriksson looks back on a coaching career spanning over 40 years with numerous successes. In 1982 he surprisingly won the UEFA Cup with IFK Göteborg, first defeating 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals and then Hamburger SV in the final. During his decades-long coaching career, the former defender then coached numerous clubs and several national teams, including top clubs such as Benfica Lisbon, AS as well as Lazio Rome and Manchester City.
From 2001 to 2006 he was the first foreigner ever to be the national coach of England, which the Swede led to the quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup, the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He has also coached Mexico, Cote d’Ivoire and the Philippines. In Sweden, Eriksson is considered the greatest football coach the country has ever had.