The 75-year-old made this heartbreaking announcement on Monday during an interview on Swedish radio station P1.
Sven Goran Eriksson, the former manager of Manchester City and the England national team, has revealed that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and may have only a year left to live.
Eriksson spent a year as the coach of Manchester City during the 2007/08 season, leading the team to a ninth-place finish and achieving a league double over Manchester United. However, he is perhaps best known for his tenure as the England national team manager, during which he oversaw three quarter-final finishes in the early 2000s.
Eleven months ago, the 75-year-old resigned from his most recent football role as the sporting director at the Swedish club Karistad due to health reasons. During his interview with radio station P1 in his native Sweden, Eriksson sadly confirmed his battle with cancer, saying, “Everyone can see that I have a disease that’s not good, and everyone supposes that it’s cancer, and it is. But I have to fight it as long as possible.
“I know that in the best case it’s about a year, in the worst case even less. Or in the best case, I suppose even longer. I don’t think the doctors I have can be totally sure; they can’t put a day on it.
“It’s better not to think about it. You have to trick your brain. I could go around thinking about that all the time and sit at home and be miserable and think I’m unlucky and so on.
“It’s easy to end up in that position. But no, see the positive sides of things and don’t bury yourself in setbacks because this is the biggest setback of them all, of course. It just came from nothing. And that makes you shocked.
“I’m not in any major pain. But I’ve been diagnosed with a disease that you can slow down but you cannot operate. So it is what it is.”
Eriksson served as the England national team manager from 2001 to 2006 and played a significant role in building the ‘Golden Generation’ squad that featured players like David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, and Wayne Rooney. During his tenure, he managed the team in 67 matches, the third-highest number of any England manager in the last 50 years, following Sir Bobby Robson and Gareth Southgate. He is famously remembered for guiding the Three Lions to a historic 5-1 victory over Germany.
Following England’s exit in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup, Eriksson stepped away from his duties as the national team manager. He subsequently had a diverse managerial career, including stints at Manchester City, Leicester City, as well as managing the national teams of Mexico, Ivory Coast, and the Philippines. Before his time as England’s manager, Eriksson also managed clubs such as Benfica, Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, and Lazio, winning Serie A with Lazio during the 1999/00 season.
