SOCCER
Eriksson: “I try not to think about death”
The Swedish soccer coach, who is terminally ill with cancer, opened up to The Guardian about his final days and gave advice to the next England manager.
Sven-Göran Eriksson knows that he doesn’t have much time left. He has admitted as much in every intervention he has had since he publicly revealed that he is suffering pancreatic cancer.
Last June he told The Telegraph that David Beckham had visited him by surprise to give him “six bottles of wine from his birth year (1948)”. Now in and interview with The Guardian he continues with his raw account of his terminal illness. “I try not to think about death” the former England coach confessed.
Eriksson was England’s first ever foreign manager. Now, as he tells the English newspaper, he is living in Sweden while undergoing chemotherapy sessions. “I watched five Olympic games yesterday. Five? Yes, I watched them all on television. It’s an obsession. A drug. I watched all the games at the Euros.”
Pressure on Carsley to deliver in England job
The Swede speaks fondly of the difficulties facing the new England manager. Lee Carsley was appointed interim manager last week, as a replacement for Gareth Southgate, who resigned two days after defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
“Think of the pressure on the shoulders of the new manager. Southgate: two finals, a semi-final, and that’s not enough for the English. So the next one has to win. Everything else is a failure. I feel sorry for whoever comes. If he doesn’t win a big tournament, he will be criticised, and the players, of course. It will be a brave man who takes on that job.”
The 76-year-old also defended Southgate: “He did great things with England. You can’t take that away from him. The results are there.” His extensive experience allows him to speak first-hand about what is happening to the Three Lions: “The same thing always happens to England. I am very sorry to say this. I had a good team, this year in Europe they had an extremely good squad, the best players in the entire tournament, but in the end something is missing. I don’t know what it is. One of the reasons is the expectations that the press places on the players. 1966 is a long time ago. England is a football nation and has the best league in the world. It definitely has the right players. So I think it is more a mental issue than a technical or tactical one.”
Sven’s England
The Swede recounts his years at the helm: “Well, I don’t know if I was a good coach, but if there was one thing I was good at, it was creating a good atmosphere in the club, not just in the team. I think that was my strong point, more than technique.”
He recounted an anecdote with British Prime Minister Tony Blair: “He once said to me: ‘Welcome to England. Shall we make a bet? Who will keep the job longer, you or me? Because, Sven, both are impossible jobs and sooner or later we will both be fired. ’ Blair won the bet because I was fired before him.”
Eriksson is enjoying what remains of his life, even though he looks death in the eye: “So far I am a healthy and sick man. To say that I am not afraid of dying, I suppose, is a lie. Sometimes it crosses my mind, but I try not to think about it.”