Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson dies aged 76
The Swede revealed he had pancreatic cancer in January
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has died at the age of 76 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his agent said.
The Swede, the first foreign manager of the England team, was best known for his time with the Three Lions, taking them to quarter finals of three major tournaments during his five-year stint in charge between 2001 and 2006.
During his time with England, Eriksson led the team a historic 5-1 win against Germany, in Munich during qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, with Michael Owen scoring a hat-trick.
As well as leading the England national team, Erkiksson managed 12 clubs, including Manchester City, Leicester, Roma and Lazio, winning 18 trophies. His biggest triumphs were the UEFA Cup win with Gothenburg and the European Cup Winners' Cup victory with Lazio.
In January, Eriksson said he had "at best" a year to live after being diagnosed with cancer.
"He passed away peacefully this morning with his family around him at his home," Eriksson's agent Bo Gustavsson told AFP.
On X, The Prince and Princess of Wales paid tribute to the former England manager: "Sad to hear about the passing of Sven-Göran Eriksson. I met him several times as England manager and was always struck by his charisma and passion for the game. My thoughts are with his family and friends. A true gentleman of the game."
Shortly after revealing he had cancer, Eriksson said his wish had always been to manage the Liverpool FC, who he had been a lifelong fan of.
Then Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp responded by offering Eriksson the coach to come over and help coach his team in a training session, use his office and "have a few great hours together."
Liverpool later announced that Eriksson would be part of the management team for a "Legends" charity match against Ajax at Anfield on March 23.
The 76-year-old helped lead a Liverpool Legends team which beat an Ajax Legends side 4-2, with Eriksson in the Liverpool dugout with a management team of Ian Rush, John Aldridge and John Barnes.
"To sit on the bench for Liverpool, that's been my dream my whole life,” said Eriksson at the time. Now it happened, and it was a beautiful day in all meanings.
"The crowd, the game, the players, everything, fantastic, and thank you to Liverpool for giving me this opportunity, to invite me for such an important game - it's not points, but the importance of the game is incredible.
"It was full of emotions, tears coming. It's been my dream club all my life - even when I had England, I also supported Liverpool, but I couldn't say it at that time.
"It's a good finish, to finish with Liverpool, it can't be much better than that."