Two issues dominated Sven-Goran Eriksson’s time as England manager – penalties and WAGs.
The Three Lions crashed out of the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup on spot-kicks to Portugal, while the WAGs made the latter tournament their own in Baden-Baden.
But despite the distracting presence of Victoria Beckham and friends 16 years ago, Eriksson believes that spot-kick heartbreak was the hardest thing he had to deal with as England boss.
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Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Sport, the 74-year-old Swede had no hesitation when asked about the toughest thing he found as Three Lions chief.
(Image: AFP)
“The most difficult thing was penalty shootouts,” Erikssen says with a wry smile across his face. “We failed enormously twice in them. I wouldn’t say difficult. I loved the job. It’s a beautiful job.”
Erikssen turns attention to England’s current crop of players who are now out in Qatar ahead of their World Cup opener against Iran on Monday.
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(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: Getty)
He describes the feeling of having a nation waiting expectantly at home and the pressure that comes with that. “Now, when they are leaving for Qatar, it feels like you have 60million people behind you and pushing you,” he adds. “They will say ‘Gareth, win it for us,’ and it’s beautiful.”
Feeling the pressure would only be natural in a job that Eriksson himself has described as the biggest in football. The former Lazio boss admits that he felt that pressure during his time in charge, but adds that it is a good pressure which signifies something important.
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“Yes, but it’s wonderful,” he continues. “Of course, if you start to think about it, it’s a little bit crazy. But I loved it. If you have a football job with a lot of pressure it means you have an important job. If you have a football job without any pressure at all, that’s not good.”
(Image: SWNS)
Southgate will certainly be feeling the pressure as he prepares to lead England into a third major tournament and continue the solid progression made since his appointment in 2016.
The former Middlesbrough boss led the Three Lions to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018, before going to within a whisker of glory at Euro 2020, narrowly losing out to Italy on – who would have guessed it – penalties.
Sven-Göran Eriksson surprised fans at a Toshiba watchparty, after research found 45% of fans plan to watch this winter’s tournament on TV from home – with more than one in ten set to pick up a new TV ready for the football. See more @ToshibaTVEurope.
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