FATHER OF THE PRIDE
Poignant moment for Sven as he gets to live his childhood dream at Anfield... watched by his dad
THERE will be a very proud dad watching in Sweden today when his son finally takes charge of a Liverpool game at Anfield.
Sven Eriksson Snr will be tuning in to the LFC Foundation game between the Reds legends and Ajax icons in front of almost 60,000 fans at the famous stadium. He doesn’t miss any Liverpool games so he certainly won’t miss this one.
It was Sven Snr who passed on his love for the Merseysiders to Sven Goran Eriksson and why today will be such an emotional moment for one of the game’s great managers. Eriksson, 76, will be in the home dugout to fulfil a lifelong dream of managing the team he supported as a boy. The club extended the invite in the wake of the sad news he has only around a year to live after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
“I don’t know why he liked Liverpool,” said the former England manager. “I only know he always was a Liverpool fan and still is. “He phoned me the other day because he couldn’t find the right channel on the television. ‘Bloody hell,’ he said. ‘I can’t find the channel and it’s already been on five minutes.’
“He will not miss one game on TV when Liverpool play.”
It was that love of Liverpool that made a young Eriksson write a letter to the Reds back in 1979 asking if he could come over to watch some training sessions. He was enjoying a successful start to life as a manager at Degerfors and heading to IFK Gothenburg.
“I saw games, some training, I was honoured to go into the Boot Room of Liverpool at that time, it was just great, fantastic,” said Eriksson, who got to tap up Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan for advice. “I learned a lot of course.” Eriksson would go on to win the UEFA Cup in 1982 with IFK before league success in Portugal with Benfica and then on to Italy as he took charge of Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Lazio, who he led to a Serie A title.
That led to the England job for a five-year stint which took in two World Cups and a European Championship.
Eriksson has managed at Anfield before – both with the Three Lions and as an opposition manager. But the chance never came to take charge of Liverpool. Until today and this Legends game.
This will be the secondlargest attendance at Anfield after the recent Manchester City game for a match which has raised £6.4million over previous years for good causes in the Merseyside area and to support older former players in need of care.
A large proportion of money raised from the Legends game will support the Foundation’s education programmes, which aims to keep kids in school and out of gangs and crime.
The likes of former Kop hero Fernando Torres and Anfield legend Steven Gerrard showing up to play may have brought the crowd but the magic of former England boss Eriksson getting to bring down the curtain on his managerial career will be a beautiful, if sad, moment.
The gaffer with such a storied career, who went on to take charge of Manchester City and Leicester along with Mexico and Ivory Coast, admits the Anfield atmosphere is unmatched.
The sound of You’ll Never Walk Alone still gives him goosebumps but today the song may even bring the odd tear.
“When I was a manager, I always dreamt about Liverpool.
But that never happened,” added the
Swede. “It was close once, there were some discussions. It was many years ago. It doesn’t matter.
“When they asked I thought it was a joke. They contacted me via my son so I said of course I will come.
“Of course you miss management but I realise that I’m of a certain age and at my age you shouldn’t be a manager.
“What I have done,
I have done. I’m happy about that.
Now it’s over.
“Well, it’s almost over. This will be the last game, I suppose. So that’s great.”