Former England boss Eriksson has terminal cancer

During the qualification phase of the 2002 World Cup, Sven-Goran Eriksson guided England to a remarkable 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich.

The ex-manager of the England football team, Sven-Goran Eriksson, has revealed that he has a maximum of one year left to live following a cancer diagnosis.

The Swedish coach, who is 75 years of age, became the inaugural foreign manager to lead the English national team and guided them to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2006, as well as the UEFA European Championship in 2004.

"I will do my best to hold out as much as I am able to," Eriksson stated in an interview with Swedish Radio P1.

I'm suffering from a severe ailment. The maximum I may have to live is a year, while the minimum is much lower. It's uncertain, therefore it's preferable not to dwell on it.

Eriksson, who worked in management for 42 years, resigned from his position as sporting director at Karlstad, a Swedish club, due to health problems 11 months ago.

He expressed his attempt to maintain a positive outlook and create something positive out of being diagnosed with cancer.

He expressed that attempting to deceive one's mind is a simple way of falling prey to negativity and feeling trapped at home. Instead, one should strive to identify the positive aspects and avoid surrendering to difficult circumstances.

Eriksson kicked off his management journey at Degerfors back in 1977. After that, he moved on to another Swedish team, Gothenburg. With them, he accomplished quite a few feats, including taking home the Swedish championship, clinching two Swedish cups, and nabbing the 1981 Uefa Cup.

Afterwards, he proceeded to have two separate periods of time with the prominent Portuguese team, Benfica. He also spent time with various Italian teams such as Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Lazio. During his time with Lazio, he was triumphant in winning a total of seven accolades, which included claiming the Serie A title, two Italian Cups and the Uefa Cup Winners' Cup.

In January 2001, Eriksson stepped down from his role at Lazio and was appointed as the new England manager, replacing Kevin Keegan.

When Eriksson was managing the England team, they achieved a memorable 5-1 triumph against Germany in Munich while competing for the 2002 World Cup. Michael Owen accomplished a hat-trick during the game.

Eriksson held the responsibility of leading two World Cup attempts, but unfortunately was eliminated during the quarter-final stage in both the 2002 and 2006 competitions. In the 2002 game, Brazil was able to defeat England 2-1 with the help of Ronaldinho's impressive free kick. As for the 2006 match, Portugal was the victor after Rooney, who happened to also be Ronaldo's teammate on Manchester United, received a red card following an altercation with Ronaldo and the game was ultimately decided by penalties.

In 2004, he led the national team to the European Championship, but Portugal once again defeated England in the quarter-finals via a penalty shootout, sending them out of the tournament.

In January 2006, it was declared that Eriksson would be departing from his position after serving for five years. This was set to happen following the World Cup in Germany, which was going to take place in the summer, even though he still had two years remaining on his contract.

There was no explanation given for his exit then, but the Swedish individual faced scrutiny following a newspaper trap set by a tabloid reporter.

During his tenure as the manager of England, scandalous rumors circulated about his personal life. These rumors were fueled by newspapers reporting his alleged affairs with TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson in 2002 and former Football Association secretary Faria Alam in 2004.

After leaving his post as England manager, Eriksson's career as a manager was diverse. He spent time managing Manchester City and Leicester City, as well as working with international teams such as Mexico, Ivory Coast, and the Philippines.

He briefly served as the director of football for Notts County, a team in the League Two division, during the 2009-2010 season.

He was last employed as a coach in China, working for Guangzhou R&F, Shanghai SIPG, and Shenzhen from 2013 to 2017. His last managerial role was for a brief period of 10 games as the head coach of the Philippines from October 2018 to January 2019.