Former England Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has cancer and has been given "best case a year" to Survive

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was recently diagnosed with cancer, estimates he has “best case a year” to survive.

As the inaugural non-native manager of England, the 75-year-old Swede guided the nation to the quarterfinals of the 2004 Euros, World Cup, and 2002 and 2006 tournaments.

“As long as I can, I will resist,” Eriksson declared to Swedish Radio P1.

“A serious ailment afflicts me at the moment. A year with the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario are considerably less frequent. A precise determination is unattainable; therefore, refraining from contemplation is advisable.

After a lengthy 42-year tenure in management, Eriksson received the news of his cancer prognosis “nearly a year ago.” Due to health concerns, he resigned from his most recent position as sporting director at Swedish club Karlstad eleven months ago.

“My life is completely ordinary,” Eriksson told Sporting Witness of the BBC World Service.

“I occasionally pay a visit to the hospital, but I reside at home and have friends here; I am not hospitalised.” It was Christmas and New Year’s with a large gathering of family and friends.

“I lead a regular existence despite attempting to exercise as much as possible, although my level of activity is considerably lower than it was a year ago.

“When you receive such a message, you become grateful every day, you smile when you wake up in the morning, and you feel fine; therefore, I am carrying out that action.

“Just when I thought I was completely healthy, I suffered a minor stroke that caused me to fall; my children rushed me to the hospital.”

“One day after the examination, they informed me that I had suffered five minor strokes, but assured me that I would recover completely. However, the news got even worse when they informed me that I have incurable cancer.”

“They stated that they would administer medication and treatment in an effort to extend my life expectancy.” With that diagnosis, unfortunately, they are unable to perform surgery.”

After beginning his managerial tenure in 1977 with Degerfors, Eriksson moved on to Gothenburg, a fellow Swedish club, where he led them to the 1981 Uefa Cup, two Swedish championships, and two Swedish cups.

He subsequently spent two seasons with Benfica, an Italian club, Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, and Lazio, during which time he amassed seven trophies in total, including the Serie A championship, two Italian Cups, and the Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup.

Historical England engagement

January 2001 saw the resignation of Eriksson from his position at Lazio in order to succeed Kevin Keegan as England manager.

Michael Owen scored a hat-trick as the Three Lions defeated Germany in Munich during qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, a 5-1 victory that Eriksson led during his tenure with England.

Eriksson oversaw two World Cup campaigns, both of which were eliminated in the quarterfinals. In the former, Brazil advanced 2-1 over England on penalties after Wayne Rooney was dismissed for an altercation with his Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. In the latter, Portugal prevailed on penalties subsequent to this incident.

In 2004, he led England to its only European Championship appearance, where they were eliminated in the round of eight via penalty shootouts by Portugal.

Despite having two years remaining on his contract, it was announced in January 2006 that Eriksson would quit his position following the World Cup in Germany that summer, following a five-year tenure.

At the time, there was no official explanation for his departure; however, the Swede had encountered duress following his entanglement in a newspaper sting conducted by a tabloid journalist.

Public revelations of his extramarital affairs with former Football Association secretary Faria Alam in 2004 and television presenter Ulrika Jonsson in 2002 characterised his tenure as England manager.

Following a year since his departure from England, Eriksson was appointed manager of Manchester City, a position he held until June 2008, during which time he supervised 45 games.

Manchester City made an announcement on X: “Everyone at Manchester City is thinking of Sven-Goran Eriksson, and we wish to express our collective support to our former manager, and his family and friends, during this time.”

After leaving Manchester City, Eriksson pursued a diverse managerial career, which included time spent with Leicester City and appointments to national teams representing Mexico, Ivory Coast, and the Philippines.

During 2009-10, he also served briefly as the director of football for League Two club Notts County.

Between 2013 and 2017, he held his final professional positions with Chinese Super League clubs Guangzhou R&F, Shanghai SIPG, and Shenzhen. From October 2018 to January 2019, he served as the Philippines’ manager for ten games.