How Sven-Goran Eriksson ranks as one in all world’s unlikeliest lotharios

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day that Sven-Goran Eriksson took cost because the supervisor of England 23 years in the past.

Instead of it being a date to look again at and replicate on his achievements, nevertheless, January 12, 2024 now stands as a tragic marker of how little time he has left to reside.

Yesterday, the previous England supervisor, now 75, revealed he has been recognized with terminal most cancers and, in a ‘best-case’ situation, has a couple of 12 months to reside. The information has come as a determined shock to a nation that got here to treat the idiosyncratic Swede as one in all its personal, regardless of the controversy and color that marked his tenure as nationwide coach.

The first foreigner given the job of managing the nationwide soccer staff, his appointment by the FA was not solely unprecedented, however unpopular and broadly criticised, too. On prime of all that, England had been languishing on the backside of their World Cup qualifying group, beneath even Albania.

Eriksson had been a really profitable membership supervisor in his native Sweden in addition to in Portugal and Italy, however had by no means run a nationwide staff earlier than. He knew he confronted a troublesome problem with England, regardless of the compensation of his £2 million wage.

At his first information convention as England boss in January 2001, the person nicknamed ‘the Iceman’ for his calmness beneath stress mentioned he can be ‘hanged’ if he did not get outcomes, and that ‘if outcomes come, nobody cares concerning the nationality of the supervisor’.

The outcomes did come, together with a well-known 5-1 thrashing of age-old rivals Germany, as Eriksson rotated England’s bid for qualification for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, the place they misplaced within the quarter-finals to the event’s eventual winners Brazil.

While doubts persevered in critics’ minds about Eriksson’s ‘lack of ardour’ on the touchline, his seemingly unflappable type ensured he quickly grew to become a part of the nationwide cloth, a family title and an immediately recognisable determine far past the world of soccer.

I can bear in mind, for instance, being despatched to the house of schoolboy Thomas Sylvester to report on him through the 2002 World Cup after the ten-year-old reworked himself right into a ‘mini-Sven’ or ‘Sven-boy’ by donning the England supervisor’s trademark glasses, go well with and tie, and shaving the entrance of his head to duplicate the Swede’s receding hairline.

His classmates on the time had been all copying the Mohican coiffure then favoured by David Beckham, one of many so-called ‘golden technology’ of England footballers who performed beneath Eriksson, however he thought ‘Sven can be totally different’.

As for Eriksson’s lack of ardour… nicely, away from the soccer pitch it quickly transpired that the gently spoken, bespectacled, balding Swede was one of many world’s unlikeliest lotharios. His notorious bed-hopping exploits with feisty Italian lawyer Nancy Dell’Olio, TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, and Football Association secretary Faria Alam (amongst a number of others) put him on the entrance pages in addition to the again.

Who might neglect how Miss Jonsson’s nanny as soon as claimed Eriksson left his stack-heeled footwear outdoors the TV star’s bed room as a code that they had been having intercourse? For her half, Miss Jonsson, a fellow Swede, insisted in her e-book that he solely took off his footwear as a result of it’s a Swedish customized when visiting.

Or the time he fled an unnamed lady’s flat in Stockholm trouserless after her husband walked in on them on the couch doing somewhat bit greater than speaking ways – an embarrassing sufficient incident made worse by the truth that it was revealed ‘by mistake’ within the Norwegian version of his personal autobiography?

Eriksson had been married in his native Sweden earlier than he got here to England. He has two youngsters together with his ex-wife Ann-Christine Pettersson, whom he divorced in 1994.

But by the point he arrived right here, he was in a relationship with the larger-than-life Miss Dell’Olio.

She burst into the nationwide consciousness in 2001, an inexhaustibly energetic, besequinned foil to England’s dour Swede. Soon afterwards, she memorably attended a reception at No 10 hosted by Prime Minister Tony Blair in an eye-popping, flame-coloured, rhinestone-studded catsuit.

‘When I walked within the reception room, everybody was already there,’ she gushed in her thick Italian accent. ‘Tony Blair was coming down from his non-public residence and since we had met earlier than, we walked in collectively. Can you think about the response?’

The nation couldn’t get sufficient of her. But regardless of her attention-grabbing antics and putting seems to be, Sven was trying elsewhere and shortly launched into an affair with Miss Jonsson.

It led to a public spat between the 2 girls. Miss Dell’Olio initially claimed the affair was ‘all a publicity try’ by Miss Jonsson, whereas Miss Jonsson hit again saying: ‘Sven is behaving like a mendacity cad. He promised me it was over with Nancy however then takes her out to dinner and would not even name me.’

Eriksson ultimately confessed to the affair, writing in his 2013 memoir: ‘Nancy didn’t suspect something. She was travelling to Italy rather a lot throughout that point.’

He added that he would meet Miss Jonsson at her house and mentioned he ‘didn’t really feel [he] had something to apologise for’. The affair lasted for 4 months – and Miss Jonsson later claimed that her fling with Eriksson was ‘about as thrilling as assembling an IKEA bookcase’.

After a quick cut up, Miss Dell’Olio took Eriksson again, however that didn’t cease his roving eye. Two years later one other of his affairs was revealed, this time with Miss Alam, who additionally occurred to be in a relationship with the then FA chief government Mark Palios.

Eriksson mentioned later that he first requested Alam out for lunch in February 2004 they usually began seeing one another at the least as soon as per week. He claimed that he spoke to Alam each single day whereas England had been on the European Championship that summer time, regardless that Dell’Olio was there with all the opposite WAGS.

The story of their affair was revealed within the now defunct News of the World and Alam, who misplaced her job on the FA consequently, then bought her model of it to the paper. As for Eriksson, he was philosophical about her resolution to take action: ‘I did not have any issues with that…What made me unhappy was that it was undoubtedly over between us. I appreciated Faria rather a lot. I believe love had even blossomed, at the least from my finish.

‘People mentioned I ought to have stopped to assume what I used to be doing earlier than getting concerned along with her.

‘I did not care: if I appreciated a lady and needed to satisfy her, why should not I have the ability to? And I felt no regret in the direction of Nancy. She lived in my home, however we weren’t married and I did not love her.’

When Miss Dell’Olio came upon concerning the affair, she slapped him. ‘The reality was he’d been with this particular person, however once more having intercourse and nothing else,’ she advised TV presenter Piers Morgan. ‘And he was undoubtedly very determined.’

He lastly cut up for good from Miss Dell’Olio in 2007 after which confessed he had by no means been ready for the general public scrutiny of his relationships.

‘I believed I used to be ready for England however I used to be not ready for issues outdoors soccer, my non-public life,’ he advised the History Channel.

‘I’m not very proud that followers might most likely title three of my former girlfriends.

‘I do not assume it broken my soccer outcomes. But my picture outdoors soccer is broken, sure. My non-public life was not very non-public in England.

‘In 2002, when it got here out a couple of lady, nicely a Swedish one, I questioned what I ought to inform the gamers. It had nothing to do with soccer. But I used to be their supervisor and we had been going right into a World Cup.

‘I advised them ‘sorry’ however one in all gamers stood up and mentioned: ‘Boss, welcome to England.’ That was it. I felt good. It was over.’

Meanwhile, again on the pitch, Eriksson had led England to qualify for Euro 2004, the place they had been once more defeated on the quarter-final stage.

He additionally took England to the quarter finals of the 2006 World Cup, the place they misplaced to Portugal after Wayne Rooney – who had earlier been given his England debut aged 17 by Eriksson – was despatched off and Cristiano Ronaldo infamously winked after main Portugal’s protests to the referee over Rooney’s foul.

For soccer followers, Sven’s nice crime was that he had did not capitalise on that golden technology of footballers. Many imagine the expertise he had at his disposal offered him with England’s greatest probability to win the World Cup for many years.

But this was not the only real cause for his departure as England boss. It was introduced in January 2006 that Eriksson was to depart his function following that summer time’s World Cup in Germany regardless of having two years left on his contract. This got here after he was caught up in one of many infamous ‘Fake Sheikh’ stings carried out by discredited undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood for the News of the World.

After having fun with lobster and £900-worth of classic champagne in a luxurious Dubai resort with the newspaper’s infamous investigator posing as a wealthy Arab businessman who was planning to purchase Aston Villa, Eriksson mentioned he would stop England in the event that they gained the World Cup and was ready to turn into the £5m-a-year supervisor of Villa as a part of a takeover bid.

A 12 months after leaving his submit with England, Eriksson was appointed supervisor of Manchester City and he oversaw 45 video games earlier than parting methods in June 2008. He went on to handle the Mexico nationwide staff, the Ivory Coast nationwide staff, Leicester City and the Philippines nationwide staff, in addition to working as a coach in China for a interval.

It was a good distance from Sunne in western Sweden the place he was born 1948. His father was a bus conductor and his mom labored in a textile retailer.

He aspired to be knowledgeable footballer, however retired from the game at 27 having solely ever performed in Sweden’s decrease divisions, and admitted he was ‘distinctly common’.

As a supervisor he was extra profitable, and after beginning within the decrease divisions he attracted the eye of larger golf equipment, happening to handle Sweden’s IFK Goteborg earlier than discovering success internationally, managing Benfica in Portugal, in addition to a number of Italian groups together with Roma and Lazio.

After he left our shores, he all however disappeared from public life, though in 2014 Eriksson, then 66, was pictured together with his girlfriend Yaniseth Bravo, a former nightclub dancer roughly half his age, at a 12-bedroom mansion he owned in Sweden in Expressen Sondag journal, Sweden’s reply to Hello!

Following the unhappy information about his well being, the previous England gamers he managed have been fast to voice their assist for him.

Rooney mentioned on social media: ‘Sad information this morning. Thoughts are with Sven-Goran Eriksson and his household. A superb coach and a particular particular person. Loved and revered by everybody. We’re all with you Sven, hold preventing.’

John Terry mentioned: ‘Terribly unhappy information, pondering of you gaffer’, whereas Steven Gerrard posted: ‘Stay robust gaffer.’ Danny Mills, a part of England’s 2002 World Cup squad beneath Eriksson, referenced England’s well-known 5-1 win in opposition to Germany through the qualification marketing campaign in his message. ‘Incredibly unhappy information,’ Mills wrote, including that Eriksson ‘will all the time be remembered for this recreation’.

For all his ups and downs, nobody might say that Eriksson didn’t add a splash of color to life whereas he was England’s supervisor, or that in his time within the job he was most likely probably the most well-known soccer supervisor on the planet – simply not essentially for what occurred on the pitch.