Sven-Göran Eriksson was a highly respected Swedish association football (soccer) coach. Born on 5 February 1948 in Sunne, Sweden, Eriksson’s playing career was spent entirely in his home nation. As a right-back, he played with Torsby, Sifhälla, and Karlskoga.
However, Eriksson’s coaching career made him a household name to soccer fans worldwide. It started in 1976 with an assistant role at the Swedish club Degerfors. He became the club’s head coach a year later, and his career exploded from there.
Eriksson subsequently coached IFK Göteborg, Benfica, Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Lazio, Manchester City, Leicester City, Guangzhou R&F, Shanghai SIPG, and Shenzen at club level. He was the head coach for England, Mexico, the Ivory Coast, and the Philippines at international level. Throughout his career, he coached soccer in ten countries.
His most notable achievements included winning the Portuguese Primeira Divisão three times, Italy’s Serie A once, the Coppa Italia three times, the UEFA Cup once, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup once, and the UEFA Super Cup once.
Sadly, on 26 Aug. 2024, Eriksson passed away. He was 76. But what happened?
How did Sven-Göran Eriksson die?
As per The Guardian, Eriksson announced in Jan. 2024 that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had “at best about a year to live.”
He would last around eight months and passed away from the awful disease on the morning of 26 Aug. 2024 at his home in Björkefors near Sunne (as per Sky Sports).
Tributes poured in online for Eriksson, with countless players he’d worked with and teams he’d coached acknowledging his passing on platforms like X (see the post from the England national team embedded above). Other posts came from the likes of Manchester City, Leicester City, Roma, Mexico, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, and Rio Ferdinand.
May Sven-Göran Eriksson rest in peace.
Published: Aug 27, 2024 06:27 am