After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Sven-Göran Eriksson claims he will’refuse to give up’ and will accept the invitation to coach Liverpool in their charity match against Ajax if given the opportunity.
Eriksson, 75, stated last week that he may only have a year to live in the ‘best case’ scenario, and words of support have poured in from around the football world for the much-loved ex-England manager.
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During his long 40-year managerial career, the Swede also managed Manchester City, Leicester City, Benfica, Lazio, and Roma before leaving his post as sporting director of Karlstad BK roughly 10 months ago, citing ‘health difficulties’ as the basis for his departure.
Having a conversation with SkyNews after the news broke, Eriksson explained how one of his biggest footballing regrets was that he never got the chance to manage Liverpool, the team he has supported since childhood.
‘I didn’t know about that! I knew that I have a charity game in March and I’m invited to see that game. That might be great,’ Eriksson told ITV’s Good Morning Britain when asked about the prospect of managing the Reds.
‘There will be a lot of good football players there.
‘That I should be their [Liverpool’s] manager… no, I never heard that.
His Answer To The Question?
Asked whether he would take up the offer, Eriksson replied: ‘I would accept, of course!
‘To coach Liverpool, that would be my dream.
‘That’s absolutely been my dream but I’m not complaining. I had a lot of good football teams, national teams and clubs, so I’m happy anyhow.’
Eriksson said he intended to live as normally as possible and was still keeping fit at the gym despite the devastating diagnosis.
‘You have to work with it and don’t think about it 24 hours a day. Don’t sit at home and do nothing,’ he added.
‘Live your life as normal as possible, as long as you can, and that’s what I’m doing.
‘I refuse to give up, I want to live every day a normal life.’
Eriksson went on: ‘I can’t run a marathon, no. But I can go to the gym and I can do exercise, as I always did in my life.
‘I have people here in my house, visitors, and it’s normal more or less.
‘I want to live normally and the aim of the rest of my life is to wake up in the morning and feel okay.
‘Most of the morning I feel okay. It’s not good but it’s as good as I can be.’
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