Sven-Göran Eriksson

Sven-Göran Eriksson was born in Sunne, Sweden, on 5 February 1948 and died on 26 August 2024. A limited full-back with Karlskoga, he stopped playing at twenty-seven to work as an assistant to Tord Grip, took over at Degerfors and then, at IFK Göteborg, produced one of the great Swedish teams, winning the league, the cup and the 1982 UEFA Cup. Benfica hired him that summer, and he arrived in Lisbon at thirty-four.

His first spell, from July 1982 to 1984, made him. Benfica won the league and cup double in 1982/83 and reached the UEFA Cup final, losing to Anderlecht, then retained the championship in 1983/84. He left for Roma and Fiorentina and returned to the Luz in 1989. The second spell brought the Supertaça of 1989, the championship of 1990/91 and, in between, the 1990 European Cup final in Vienna, lost 1-0 to Milan. He left in 1992 after Benfica had finished second. In all he took charge of 241 matches, winning 163, and won three championships in two separate periods that are often wrongly run together as one.

His football was organised and unfussy: a compact, well-drilled 4-4-2, hard to play through, quick to break, with a clear plan for every opponent. He was calm to the point of coldness on the touchline and was trusted by players for it.

Afterwards he coached Sampdoria and Lazio, winning the Italian league and cup double in 2000, and became England manager from 2001 to 2006, reaching three consecutive tournament quarter-finals. Later work took him to Manchester City, Mexico, Leicester City and beyond. He announced in early 2024 that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer and, before his death that August, fulfilled a lifelong ambition by taking charge of a Liverpool side in a charity match.