‘Don’t be sorry, smile’ – Eriksson in new filmpublished at 15:46 British Summer Time
Ciaran Varley
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson says that he hopes to be remembered as “a positive guy, trying to do everything he could do”.
The 76-year-old Swede said in January that he had “best case a year” to live after being diagnosed with cancer.
In a touching new film about him, due to be released on Amazon Prime on 23 August, Eriksson says he has had a “good life”, telling viewers, “don’t be sorry, smile”, before saying “thank you for everything coaches, players, the crowds. It’s been fantastic”.
Eriksson was the first foreign coach to manage England and led the side to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and 2004 Euros.
Prior to that appointment, he had success across Europe, winning the Swedish, Portuguese and Italian top divisions with Gothenburg, Benfica and Lazio.
Outside of football he has had a colourful life, including high-profile affairs with Ulrika Jonsson and Faria Alam, as well as being victim of a ‘Fake Sheikh’ tabloid sting and a scam involving Notts County, a fraudster called Russell King and the state of North Korea.
Here are just a few things we learned from ‘Sven’.
Image source, Getty Images