Swedish football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who coached England’s team from 2001 to 2006, has died at the age of 76 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Eriksson became the first foreigner to lead the England national team – and also led Swedish, Portuguese and Italian clubs to major trophies in the 1980s and 1990s before taking on the England job in 2001.
The charismatic manager announced in January that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer.
Eriksson’s longtime agent Bo Gustavsson said Eriksson had lost his battle with cancer early on Monday, surrounded by his family.
“We knew it was going to end bad, it all went really fast in the last few weeks,” said Gustavsson.
“I have been fascinated by him for a long time. He has always been so positive and has had time for others and never thought of himself, and he was that until the very end,” the agent added.
Eriksson led England to the quarterfinals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and to the 2004 European Championship, managing a golden generation of players, including David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard.
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