PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Sven-Göran Eriksson is one of Swedish football’s true greats.
But now English pamp David Dein reveals the Swede’s only weakness.
“I was surprised,” writes the former FA boss in the Daily Mail newspaper.
It has been three years Sven-Göran Eriksson most recently had a coaching job. Then it was as the national team captain for the Philippines for a few months that applied.
Svenni’s life
The Swede is today considered one of the country’s top football coaches of all time after the great success with IFK Göteborg in the 80s, which led to Europe and major clubs such as Benfica, Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Lazio and Manchester City. “Svennis” has also been the national team captain for national teams such as England, Mexico and the Ivory Coast over the years.
But aside from the football field, the 74-year-old’s coaching career has also been marred by scandals and infidelity. Now new truth is emerging about Eriksson’s life in the spotlight.
Only weakness
It’s the pamp David Deinformer vice-chairman of the English Football Association (FA), who opens up about previously unknown details from when the Swede took over as the national team captain for England in 2001. A time in Svenni’s life that would get a lot of attention.
Dein remembers asking the Swede’s agent if there was any weakness in the coach who would become England’s first man. In response, he only got a single word, and it really bothered him.
“Women,” replied Athole Still (the agent). It was an answer I had not expected when I asked the charismatic agent if his esteemed client had any weakness,” writes the former FA boss in a column for the English newspaper Daily Mail.
“We can live with that, I guess,” was Dein’s reply.
“Seriously”
The Englishman then states in his column that “Sven really lived up to his reputation over the next five years”. Because there were big headlines and considerable media interest when Eriksson was accused of an affair with the secretary Faria Alam.
Dein admits that he confronted Svennis directly with the information in the English press.
“Sven, this is serious. I have to ask you straight out, are you having an affair with the FA secretary? Sven rolled his eyes: ‘No, but I would love to have it,'” he writes in his column.
“A success”
The former FA pamp goes on to say that he was impressed by the Swede’s ability to always stay calm, even when it was the most windy.
“Sven seemed completely unmoved by all the hubbub. I admired him for his ability to ignore all the chaos—chaos that he himself had caused.” writes Dein.
But regardless of all the chaos and how it actually went for England, David Dein was still happy with Svennis as England captain.
“In summary, I think Sven was a success, even though he was obviously not perfect. He had his flaws – which we became aware of,” he concludes his column.
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