Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson has fallen too ill to take a leisurely walk by the lake he loves.
A new film about his life details his daily life with his family and friends in Sweden where he lives a peaceful life. He added: “I always thought it’s a great place to sleep. The ashes could be thrown into the water here.”
However, the 76-year-old has been struggling with his health in recent weeks and says he does not have the energy to return to his Swedish home. The next time he is there, it could be when his own ashes are scattered, reports the Mirror.
READ MORE: Sven-Goran Eriksson emotionally says goodbye with message on how he wants to be remembered
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His close friend and lawyer Anders Runebjer said: “I’ve seen Sven and how do I feel? I feel sad but I am happy to have known Sven and know that I can still see him. This is my reaction. He is such a tremendous person.”
He added: “Lake Fryken is beautiful. It is 90 kilometres long from south to north and it is a beautiful landscape. You can see that in the pictures. You can definitely fish in that lake too.
“But sadly his condition does not allow Sven to do that any more. It is a hard time for him.”
In the documentary, which was released on Friday, Sven spoke of discovering his pancreatic cancer after he had five strokes at home. Initially he was able to receive treatment to help buy him more time, but time is running out.
Sven said on the film: “Life is not 100%. I’ve had injections for many months, now they [doctors] change to taking pills.” Asked what it has been like to see his friend get treatment and fight cancer, Anders added: “He is very brave. He really is.”
He declined to give further details on his situation, although Sven was too ill to fly to London last week when his daughter Lina revealed that he was now “deteriorating quite quickly”.
Sven is spending his final days with his family and doing the thing he still loves perhaps most of all, watching football. Anders, who lives nearby and features in the documentary, has met up with Sven, enjoying a chat with coffee and cookies, and they have spoken on the phone regularly over the last year.
“Now and then I go but I’m not pestering him by going there every day,” Anders said. “He needs to have his time with his family but I am in touch with the family as well. His special interest now is history books. And he watches football of course. He watched the Euros and the Olympic Games.
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