Sven-Goran Eriksson: The gentle-natured England manager who showed us all how to 'celebrate life'

By his own admission, Eriksson was a distinctly "average" defender, and he never played at the top level. He joined second-division side KB Karlskoga FF in 1972, but also started working as a PE teacher in the Swedish town of Orebro, and developed a passion for the nurture and development of talented youngsters.

Eriksson landed his first coaching role Degerfors IF in 1977, inspired by the pragmatic blueprint established by Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson at the start of the century in Swedish football. Degerfors achieved promotion to the second tier while sticking to Eriksson's 4-4-2 formation, which led to his big break at IFK Gothenburg.

Gothenburg have always been one of the top clubs in Sweden, alongside AIK and Malmo, and the initial appointment of a unknown 30-year-old in 1979 raised more than a few eyebrows. “Here was this really shy man, who had been the manager of a little team called Degerfors, and now he was suddenly in charge of the biggest club in the country,” remarked defender Glenn Hysen. “We had never heard of him and it took us a while to respect him.”

But Eriksson did gradually earn the respect of the entire squad, delivering one league title, two Swedish Cups and the UEFA Cup in the space of three years. Against all odds, Gothenburg thrashed Hamburg over two legs to land their first European trophy, alerting top clubs across the continent to Eriksson's talents.

Eriksson joined Portuguese giants Benfica in 1982, and spent two years at the club, guiding them to successive league crowns, but fell agonisingly short of adding another UEFA Cup to his collection after a final defeat to Anderlecht. He then decided to take on a new challenge in Italy with Roma, after rejecting Barcelona, and turned the Giallorossi into Coppa Italia winners.

A forgettable spell at Fiorentina followed before Eriksson returned to Benfica in 1989. The unassuming Swede led the Eagles to the European Cup final in his first season back in Lisbon, which they lost 1-0 to one of the greatest AC Milan sides in history, but Eriksson was able to deliver another Primeira Division title before cutting ties with the club for good in 1992.

Eriksson's trophy-winning habit continued at Sampdoria, who stormed to the 1994 Coppa Italia after embracing his zonal marking defensive set-up. He managed to get the best out of superstars like Attilio Lombardo, Ruud Gullit and Roberto Mancini, enhancing his reputation as an elite manager in the process.

Sampdoria gave the green light for Eriksson to move to England in December 1996, but he ultimately went back on his promise to join Blackburn Rovers at the end of that season, with Hodgson inheriting the Ewood Park hot seat instead. Family ties kept Eriksson in Italy, and he signed a contract with Roma's arch-rivals Lazio in the summer of 1997.

Lazio had gone 20 years without any tangible success before Eriksson's arrival. To change that dynamic he had to be ruthless, and invited the wrath of ultras by pushing for the sale of talismanic club captain Guiseppe Signori.

"The fans went absolutely crazy. They hated me; I think they wanted to kill me," Eriksson said to the Coaches Voice. "We sold him towards the end of a week in which we lost at home to Udinese on the Sunday. I couldn’t enter the training ground for the next training session because it was blocked by supporters."

Six months later, Lazio lifted the Coppa Italia. The following season, Eriksson oversaw a remarkable run to glory in the European Cup Winners' Cup, and in 1999-2000, Lazio won the Italian double. "No one said anything about Signori after that," added Eriksson.

Then England came calling. An agreement was struck for Eriksson to replace Kevin Keegan at the helm in October 2000 and he stepped down as Lazio boss three months later, becoming England's first-ever foreign head coach.

Eriksson quickly silenced the skeptics who reacted with anger to his appointment, including the Daily Mail, who produced the memorable headline: "We've sold our birthright down the fjord to a nation of seven million skiers and hammer throwers who spend half their lives in darkness."

Despite the doubters, Eriksson debuted with five wins out of five, a feat no other England boss had previously managed, and expectations skyrocketed after a remarkable 5-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Germany in September 2001. It was only the second time Germany had ever been beaten at home in qualifying, with Michael Owen grabbing most of the headlines after netting a superb hat-trick.

Despite that, England only secured an automatic qualifying spot for the 2002 World Cup after David Beckham's incredible stoppage-time free-kick against Greece at Old Trafford, and Eriksson's team would prove to be equally enigmatic at the tournament in South Korea and Japan.

The Three Lions beat Argentina in the group stage, with Beckham scoring a penalty to exorcise the demons of his famous red card against La Albiceleste in France four years earlier, and made light work of Denmark in the round of 16, only to come unstuck against eventual winners Brazil in the quarter-finals. Ronaldinho's looping free-kick deceived David Seaman to give the Selecao a 2-1 win and break England hearts; a feeling Eriksson would get used to over the next four years.

England regrouped to emerge as one of the favourites for Euro 2004, led by teenage sensation Wayne Rooney. The 17-year-old hit stunning braces against Switzerland and Croatia to send the Three Lions through to the quarter-finals against hosts Portugal, and Eriksson's side took an early lead through Owen.

Disaster struck moments later, though, as Rooney was forced off with a broken foot, and after the game ended 2-2 after extra-time, Portugal triumphed on penalties. England probably would have won the game, and perhaps the tournament, had Rooney stayed fit.

Once the dust settled, optimism began to build for the 2006 World Cup, where the so-called 'Golden Generation', including the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and John Terry, would be at their peak.

Unfortunately, the fates conspired against them once more. England breezed through their group before edging out Ecuador in the last 16, only to be rewarded with another showdown against Portugal. Rooney went from hero to villain as he was sent off for a stamp on Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, whose subsequent wink to the Portugal bench became an instantly iconic World Cup moment.

England battled to another shootout with 10 men, but once again it was Portugal who came out on top. Eriksson left his post after the game, having reportedly pocketed over £100 million during his five years in charge, leading to BBC journalist Phil McNulty saying "he will be remembered as a failure and a mighty pricey one at that".

Eriksson's departure wasn't a surprise, because the English FA had confirmed the 2006 World Cup would be his last tournament at the start of the year. That announcement came after he was caught making a series of damning revelations in a 'Fake Sheikh sting' set up by the News of the World, which included an admission that he was open to joining Aston Villa and trying to lure Beckham away from Real Madrid.

It wasn't the first time Eriksson had made headlines for his behaviour in his personal life, either. Eriksson arrived in England while in a relationship with Italian-American lawyer Nancy Dell’Olio, who had been married when they first met in Rome.

In 2002, news broke of Eriksson 'playing away' with Swedish television presenter Ulrika Jonsson, and Dell'Ollio continued to stand by him after a later affair with FA secretary Faria Alam. These scandals left Eriksson's decision making-powers diminished at his final World Cup in Germany, where much was made of the players’ wives and girlfriends being stationed near England's training camp in Baden-Baden.

There was too much noise around Eriksson away from the pitch, and many people thought he was far too inflexible with his tactics on it. He was regularly criticised for his refusal to shift from a 4-4-2, which prevented him from getting the best out of Lampard, Gerrard and Paul Scholes, while his decision to make Beckham captain ultimately backfired. Eriksson also took a 16-year-old Theo Walcott to Germany, only to leave him on the bench for the entire World Cup.

"We should have done better," he conceded. "So the criticism I and the team took after that tournament I think was fair." Through all of the controversy and vitriol, Eriksson would always remain dignified in front of the media.

England won 40 and drew 17 of their 67 games with Eriksson in the dugout, and Steve McClaren, Fabio Capello and Hodgson all failed to match his major tournament record over the next 10 years. The foreign coach experiment wasn't a success, but that wasn't down to a lack of effort on Eriksson's part, and he earned a whole new set of fans for the way he conducted himself.

Eriksson actually became more popular than ever in his post-England career. His willingness to acknowledge his flaws made him relatable, and people rooted for him to do well.

Manchester City gave him the chance to get back into club management in July 2007, and although he would only last 10 months at the Etihad Stadium, he made his mark, taking the club to the top of the table briefly while also masterminding a first league double over neighbours Manchester United in 40 years.

In the two years that followed, Eriksson coached both the Mexico and Ivory Coast national teams, with an all-advised stint as director of football at Notts County wedged in between, before moving to Leicester City. The Foxes were in the Championship relegation zone when Eriksson joined in October 2010, but he dragged them to a respectable 10th-place finish, though he was sacked after a poor start to the following campaign.

Eriksson then jetted off to the Far East to coach three different Chinese teams, before bringing the curtain down on his glittering career with a brief stint on the touchline for the Philippines national team. The charismatic coach retired in 2019 and returned to his homeland to live with his partner Yaniseth Bravo Mendoza, having split from Dell’Olio in 2007.

In January 2024, Eriksson publicly revealed he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He returned to many of his old clubs in the months that followed, and fulfilled his "dream" to coach Liverpool in a legends match against Ajax.

Amazon Prime also released a documentary on his life titled 'Sven', which saw him reveal how he wants to be remembered by the football world. "I had a good life," Eriksson said. "I think we are all scared of the day when we die, but life is about death as well. You have to learn to accept it for what it is. Hopefully at the end people will say, yeah, he was a good man, but everyone will not say that.

"I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do. Don't be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds, it's been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it. Bye."

Eriksson certainly lived his life to the full, and set a shining example with his positive demeanour and thoughtful nature, which is why he is now being celebrated so passionately by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

The legendary Swedish tactician is survived by his two children, Johan and Lina.