Yahoo News Mourners including David Beckham attend Sven-Goran Eriksson's funeral
Members of Sweden’s royal family also attended the funeral in Torsby, along with his children and his father as well as childhood friend Bengt Berg.
Mourners including David Beckham and members of Sweden's royal family gathered on Friday in the Swedish town of Torsby for the funeral of former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Eriksson’s coffin arrived at Fryksande church at around 7am local time, long before the arrival of any of the 600 guests who attended. A single bell tolled as his body was carried into the church.
Captain of the team during the Swede’s spell in charge in between 2001 and 2006, Beckham was joined by Nancy Dell’Olio with whom Eriksson was in a relationship during his time in charge of the team.
The church service, which included renditions of Elton John’s Candle in the Wind and Frank Sinatra’s My way, began at just after 10am local time.
The eulogy paid tribute to Eriksson’s love of routine and discipline and alluded to the fact he was never late and that he frequently wore a suit as a teenager.
Members of Sweden’s royal family were also in attendance, as was Eriksson’s partner at the time of his death, Yanisette Alcides – a Panamanian national whom he met whilst in charge of the Mexico national team – with roads surrounding the church in the small town where Eriksson grew up cordoned off and with a sizeable police presence in the area.
Roy Hodgson, one of Eriksson’s successors as England manager, and former Football Association vice-chairman David Dein were also at the service.
Amongst those to arrive early were Eriksson’s son and elderly father, as well as a childhood friend of the former Lazio and Benfica coach, Bengt Berg.
Eriksson became the first foreign manager of the England team when he was appointed in 2001, leading it to three successive quarter-final appearances before leaving his post after the 2006 World Cup.
The Swede had announced in January that he had “best case” a year to live after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
His public confirmation of his illness led to an outpouring of affection, something recognised by his family who thanked the football world for making his last months “unforgettable” - including being given the opportunity to manage his beloved Liverpool in a charity match at Anfield in March.
What did Sven-Goran Eriksson do after managing England?
Manchester City, 2007-2008
Eriksson became Manchester City’s manager in July 2007 – one year after he left his role at England. He signed a three-year contract worth a total of £6 million before bonuses. He made history by becoming the club’s first non-UK manager and the first Swedish manager in the Premier League.
Eriksson made a winning start to his new job, putting them top after three games and he was awarded Premier League's Manager of the Month award for August. However, after several months of being in the top six, City fell to seventh and began suffering a series of heavy defeats – most notably losing 8-1 to Middlesbrough in their last game of the season and placing City ninth after Eriksson’s first year in charge.
However, despite City going on to qualify for the UEFA Cup and achieving the club’s joint highest Premier League point total (55), owner Thaksin Shinawatra replaced Eriksson due to an "avalanche of very poor results which is unacceptable at this level" – two years earlier than had been planned.
Mexico, 2008-2009
Eriksson marked his return to international football by signing on to become the manager of the Mexico national team in 2008. In his first game in charge, the team won 2-1 against Honduras.
But calls on him to be replaced arrived quickly after Mexico lost 2-0 to the US the following year, with reports suggesting Portsmouth were interested in making him their manager. Eriksson denied the rumours and insisted he would help Mexico qualify for the World Cup. But a 3-1 loss to Honduras saw him sacked as manager.
Ivory Coast, 2010
A year after the Mexico sacking, Eriksson was back as manager, this time for the Ivory Coast national team. It was reported that he received £270,000 for accepting the job.
However, it was not the best of starts for Eriksson as Ivory Coast drew 0-0 against Portugal in their opening game of the 2010 World Cup, before losing 3-1 to Brazil. A win against North Korea was not enough to see Ivory Coast through to the next round and his contract was not extended beyond its end date of June that year.
Leicester City, 2010-2011
It was a return to English club football in 2010 for Eriksson when he was appointed manager of Leicester City – at a time they were sitting in the relegation zone of the Championship. In December – two months after he was appointed manager at Leicester City – Eriksson turned down the chance to take over from Sam Allardyce as Blackburn Rovers manager.
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Eriksson revived Leicester’s fortunes and the club rose to seventh place by February 2011. But the fairytale quickly soured as the club’s form went through a shaky period and they ultimately ended up 10th.
Despite spending millions on transfers, Eriksson left the club by mutual consent in October, after just 13 league matches. The club were in 13th position at the time he left.
Guangzhou R&F, 2013-2014
Eriksson signed a 19-month contract to be the head coach of Guangzhou R&F of the Chinese Super League in June 2013, with a salary of around £2 million a year. The club finished third in the league the following year, meaning they qualified for the AFC Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.
Despite the success, negotiations for an extension to his contract broke down in November 2014 and he left the club.
Shanghai SIPG, 2014-2016
Staying in China, Eriksson signed a two-year contract with Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG after he left Guangzhou R&F. It was a successful season for the club, and they finished runners-up in 2015, qualifying for the AFC Champions League for the first time.
Success continued and Shanghai SIPG made it to the quarter-finals in their debut in the tournament and once again secured their place for a second time by finishing third at the end of the season. However, criticisms over his style of play and not giving younger players a chance ultimately meant Eriksson would be replaced in 2016.
Shenzhen, 2016-2017
Not long after leaving Shanghai SIPG in 2016, Eriksson signed up to another Chinese club – this time it was China League One side Shenzhen. He won his first six matches of the 2017 season and for a while it looked like Eriksson would lead the club onto greater things.
But it was not to be and the club went nine games without a win. The results meant that Eriksson was sacked in June 2017.
Philippines, 2018-2019
In 2019 Eriksson marked his return to international football by signing on as head coach for the Philippines national side. Initially taking the job on a six-month contract, Eriksson guided the team to second place in their group in the 2018 AFF Championship. They eventually lost out on a final place following defeat at the feet of Vietnam.
It was a different story in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, with the Philippines only managing to score one goal during their debut in the tournament. Eriksson ended his time as head coach in 2019 – marking the end of his managerial career in professional football.
