‘WHEN THE NEWS OF THE WORLD CLOSED IT FELT LIKE A BIRTHDAY’
10 Aug 2024 - Saturday Magazine Portrait: Tom Jenkins Sven-Göran Eriksson was the England men’s team’s first foreign manager – a quiet Swede who was blamed for their failure and had his private life splashed across the tabloids. He talks to Simon Hattenstone about facing a terminal illness, losing millions - and why he doesn’t envy Gareth Southgate’s successor. ‘THE NEW ENGLAND MANAGER HAS TO WIN. EVERYTHING ELSE IS A FAILURE. I FEEL SORRY FOR WHOEVER COMES IN. IT WILL BE A BRAVE MAN WHO TAKES ON THAT JOB’ SVEN-GÖRAN ERIKSSON IS SAYING HIS FAREWELLS to the world. The former England men’s football manager has pancreatic cancer, and is approaching the end of his life. In January, he announced he had at most a year to live. He is keen to talk. But he wants to do it in Sven style – calm, measured, drama-free. He tells me he wants to set the record straight. “I had a lot to do with the press in a lot of countries, but especially in England. So why not tell my truth? What I think is the t