Sven-Göran Eriksson

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Sven-Göran Eriksson
Personal information
Full name Sven-Göran Eriksson
Position(s) Right back (retired)
Team information
Current team
 Mexico (Manager)

Sven-Göran Eriksson ([svɛn'jœːrɑn 'eːrɪksɔn]ⓘ, born 5 February 1948) is a Swedish football manager, who is currently the manager of the Mexico national football team.

Eriksson was a Swedish football player and was forced to retire early from an unremarkable playing career in the Swedish lower leagues, due to injury in 1975. He went on to become a successful club football manager from 1978 to 2001, in the Swedish, Portuguese and Italian top football divisions, most notably with Italian club S.S. Lazio. During this time Eriksson achieved several national league, domestic cup and two notable UEFA competition wins. With his achievements in this period, Eriksson is so far the only manager who has achieved the league-and-cup double in three different countries (Sweden, Portugal and Italy).

On leaving Lazio he controversially became the first foreign manager of the English national team, succeeding Kevin Keegan in 2001. Eriksson had a relatively long spell as England manager, from 2001 to 2006, managing the team for two World Cups and a European Championship tournament in between. During this time he was as controversial in the English press for his off-field activities and rate of pay, as for any perceived failings as a manager.

While being steadily and repeatedly supported by the Football Association, and having attained a good overall statistical record with England, after poor performances it was announced in a January 2006 that Eriksson would step down after the World Cup in that June, which England subsequently exited at the quarter-final stage. Failure to qualify for Euro 2008 the following year resulted in Eriksson's replacement, his former assistant Steve McClaren's dismissal after only 18 games in charge, compared to Eriksson's 67 game spell with England.

After a year out of the game, in July 2007 Eriksson agreed to a three-year contract with the recently taken over top-flight but struggling English club Manchester City[1] worth £2 million a year plus bonuses[2], agreed with their wealthy new Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra. After a good start to the season, with his early signings creating an impact, it was announced by many news sources that in a surprise move, Shinawatra wished to replace Eriksson in May 2008 after only one full season, ostensibly for a poor second half of the season. On 2 June 2008 Eriksson officially left Manchester City. On 3 June 2008 was officially signed to become the manager of Mexico national football team.

Playing career

Born in Sunne and raised in Torsby, in Värmland, Eriksson had an unremarkable playing career playing as a right-back[3] in the lower divisions of Swedish football. The highest level he played at was Division 2 with KB Karlskoga, where he met Tord Grip, before being forced to retire prematurely due to a knee injury in 1975,[4] aged only 27.

Early management career

After retirement, Eriksson received an offer to become Grip's assistant at Degerfors IF.[5] A year later, Grip was appointed assistant manager of the Swedish national team, and Eriksson became Degerfors' manager, winning promotion to Division 2 in 1978.

His success with vice manager Tom Chadney by his side attracted the attention of much larger clubs, and Eriksson joined IFK Göteborg in 1979. He won the Swedish Cup in his first season, and a "treble" of League, Cup and UEFA Cup (Göteborg beating Hamburger SV 4-0 in the final) in 1982.

Eriksson's European success led to him being head-hunted by Portuguese club SL Benfica, and he had a similarly quick impact there, Benfica winning the Portuguese Championship, the Portuguese Cup and finishing runners-up in the UEFA Cup. After a second Championship the following year, Eriksson moved on to Italy, becoming trainer of AS Roma. He was not as immediately successful at Roma as he had been before, but he still won a Coppa Italia in 1986.

After a trophyless two years at Fiorentina, Eriksson moved back to Benfica for a second stint in 1989, where he led the team to the final of the European Cup (losing to AC Milan 1-0) in 1990, and another League title in 1991. In 1992 Eriksson returned to Italy to try his luck again, with Sampdoria, where he managed to win another Coppa Italia in 1994.

Italian league title and other honours

Eriksson finally found major success in Italy when he joined Lazio in 1997 (after controversially reneging on a deal to join English club Blackburn Rovers); with Lazio he won the Coppa Italia and the Italian Supercup in 1998 and 2000, the European Cup Winners' Cup (1999 - the very last tournament), and the Serie A title (the Scudetto) in 2000 — only the second time that the Roman club had won the Italian championship in their history. That season had begun with glory in the UEFA Super Cup, winning 1-0 against Manchester United. Bankrolled by Sergio Cragnotti's investment in the team - some £274 million in over 4 seasons - Eriksson amassed trophies on a remarkable scale, and because of this many fans consider him to be Lazio's most successful manager ever.

England manager

World Cup 2002

Following the resignation of England manager Kevin Keegan after a home loss to Germany in October 2000, the Football Association specifically pursued Eriksson as his replacement. Eriksson had initially agreed to take over after the expiration of his contract in summer 2001, but decided to resign his post at Lazio early, and he officially began his England duties in January of that year. Eriksson was the first foreign manager to be appointed coach of the England national team.

Eriksson turned round England's bid for qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, with several crucial wins over lesser opposition before his first real test, England's rematch with Germany in Munich on September 1, 2001. England crushed their long-time rivals 5-1. Despite this England still needed a late equaliser at home to Greece to automatically qualify, and England's initially strong performance in the 2002 World Cup (when in a group stage with Nigeria, Argentina and Sweden) finals culminated in a 2-1 quarter finals loss to 10-man Brazil, who subsequently went on to win the tournament.

Euro 2004

After winning their first qualifying match in Slovakia, England drew at home with Macedonia and were then booed off by their fans after losing a friendly to Australia.[6] However England won their next five qualifiers and, needing a point from the last game to qualify, drew 0-0 in Turkey to top the group.

In their first match in the finals, England were winning 1-0 against France after 90 minutes but lost after Zinedine Zidane scored twice in injury time. However, a 3-0 victory over Switzerland and a 4-2 victory over Croatia meant England still qualified for the quarter-finals, where they lost to the hosts Portugal on penalties.

World Cup 2006

On 7 September 2005, Eriksson's England team lost a World Cup qualifying match against Northern Ireland 1-0, the first time that England had lost to that team since 1972. Although it was only Eriksson's first ever defeat in a World Cup or European Championship qualifying match, it brought his position under unprecedented pressure and he was criticised, both by some fans and by BBC commentators, for his lack of charisma and tactical awareness. Criticism continued as England scraped a 1-0 victory over Austria in a game which saw David Beckham controversially sent off. Some of this criticism was answered, however, as England put in a much improved performance, despite the absence of David Beckham through suspension and Sol Campbell and Steven Gerrard through injury, in a 2-1 win against Poland.

In 2006, he was recorded saying he would be willing to leave England to manage Aston Villa if England won the World Cup, after being duped into believing that a wealthy Arab would buy the club and wanted him as manager. The wealthy "Arab" was in fact the "Fake Sheikh", an undercover News of the World reporter.

On January 23, the Football Association announced that Eriksson would leave his job after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and it was thought that the News of the World allegations played a part in this decision.[7] This was later denied by both parties with Eriksson explaining that there was a prior arrangement to terminate his contract immediately after the World Cup. Following a lengthy period of public and media speculation as to his successor the FA later announced that Steve McClaren, Eriksson's assistant, would take over the reins after the World Cup.

The week before England's first game in Germany, England beat Hungary 3-1 and Jamaica 6-0 at home.

England were unbeaten after the group stage of the tournament, with wins against Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, followed by a draw against Sweden. The manner of these results were considered to be far from satisfactory.[8] Eriksson attracted further negative media attention as a consequence.

A David Beckham trademark free kick was enough to see Eriksson's England past Ecuador in a lacklustre 1-0 encounter. However, Eriksson once again fell to nemesis Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal. They defeated England 3-1 on penalties with the score 0-0 after extra time, with Beckham lost to injury and Wayne Rooney sent off for stamping Ricardo Carvalho. The result was Eriksson's third successive exit in a major tournament quarter-final. In his farewell speech, Eriksson wished England well and singled out Rooney for special praise, advising the press not to blame the youngster's dismissal for England's exit.

Notable feats as England manager

  • Germany 1-5 England World Cup qualifier 2001
  • England 1-0 Argentina 2002 World Cup
  • Improved England's FIFA World ranking from 17th place (Jan 2001) to 5th place (July 2006)

(highest ranking No.4 during World Cup 2006)

  • Managed to reach the quarter final in three consecutive tournaments (WC 2002, Euro 2004, WC 2006). No other European country achieved this during this period, and on an international level only Brazil. England was also, apart from Sweden, the only European country that did not suffer elimination from group play or failure to qualify during this time (2001-2006). Coincidentally, the same manager Luiz Felipe Scolari knocked England out of all three of these tournements, first with Brazil and then twice with Portugal.
  • Achieved the highest point percentage in Major Tournament Matches of all time for an England manager.[9]
  • Lost only 5 competitive games and achieved top qualifying place in all three International tournaments during his five and a half years as England manager.
  • Rated by the FA as England's 2nd most successful Manager after Sir Alf Ramsey.

Eriksson is the only England manager never to have led an England team out at their permanent home venue of the old Wembley. Wembley was closed for redevelopment the same month that the FA asked him to take over, October 2000, and he resigned before the new Wembley Stadium was opened. Note that he didn't begin duties until January 2001.

Manchester City

In July 2007, virtually a year to the day that he left the England job, Eriksson was confirmed as the new manager of Manchester City after signing a three-year contract (Manchester City's first foreign manager outside the UK).[10] His first signing was Italian striker Rolando Bianchi from Reggina for £8.8 million. Bianchi was soon joined at the club by Swiss Under-21 international Gelson Fernandes from FC Sion, Brazilian midfielder Geovanni from Cruzeiro, and Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov from Atlético Madrid. He also signed Croat Vedran Ćorluka from Dinamo Zagreb, Spaniard Javier Garrido from Real Sociedad and Brazilian Elano from Shakhtar Donetsk. He was successful in his first match, defeating West Ham United 2-0 at Upton Park. During Manchester City's next game, they scored their first home goal in 288 days (since Jan 1 2007), to take all three points from a newly promoted Derby County.

On August 19, Manchester City won the first Manchester derby under Eriksson with a 1-0 win over league champions Manchester United with a goal from one of Sven's summer signings, Geovanni, taking City to the top of the Premier League, with 9 points and having conceded no goals. Manchester City lost their first match on August 25, a 1-0 loss to Arsenal.On 10 February 2008, Eriksson's Manchester City once again beat Manchester United, this time at Old Trafford, beating them 2-1.

Guiding Man City to second place in the Premier League, Eriksson earned himself the Premier League's Manager of the Month award for August. During September 2007, City enjoyed a further two wins at home, whilst winning one point in two matches playing away from home. Meanwhile, Eriksson led the club to the fourth round of the Carling Cup, beating Norwich City at Eastlands by 1-0.

In the last game of the season, Manchester City suffered an 8–1 loss to Middlesbrough F.C.; the biggest defeat of Eriksson's career[11], leaving Manchester City in 9th place in the league, one place away from the UEFA Cup 2008–09 qualifying positions. Manchester City subsequently qualified through the extra place awarded to the Premier League for finishing as the highest placed team (who hadn't already qualified for a European competition) in the UEFA Fair Play League for 2007–08.

During his time at Manchester City he featured in a puppet based spoof late night talk show with Jose Mourinho and Manchester United foward Wayne Rooney. This is aired on Setanta Sports, with new episodes usually showing after Setantas live weekend match coverage. Following his departure from City, Sven (or 'It' as he is referred to on the show) is now said to be commuting from Mexico in order to film the show.

Mexico National Football Team

On June 2 2008, Manchester City confirmed by club statement that they had parted company with Eriksson by "mutual consent", with Eriksson still having two years left on his contract.[12] He was subsequently appointed as manager of Mexico a day later,[13] though he did not formally start the role until after Mexico's World Cup qualifier against Belize on 21 June.[14]

He supposedly was seen at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City on 17 July 2008, however it turned out to be an English impersonator, Derek Williams [[1]] and Eriksson was actually in New York.[15] The false reports regarding the Sven double's activities resulted in a ban from all Mexican soccer stadiums, but this was quickly recinded when Ricardo Ferretti (Puma team head coach) confirmed that the PR stunt had been an "innocent prank" that they had all been totally convinced by, and that he had "really liked the guy". Williams continued to receive VIP treatment at many Mexico City soccer stadiums and other venues and his exploits resulted in a prime time TV special on the following Saturday night that "revealed all" and displayed the high regard within which "Eriksson" is held by the people of Mexico.

On August 20, 2008, he debuted as manager of the Mexican National team in a CONCACAF world cup qualifier versus Honduras. Mexico went on to win 2-1. His first defeat as mexico coach came on a friendly match on September 24, 2008 loosing 1-0 to Chile by an own goal by Juan Carlos Valenzuela.

Club managerial honours

Managerial statistics

Team Nat From To Record
G W D L %
Degerfors IF Sweden 1977 1978
IFK Göteborg[16] Sweden 1979 1982 100 51 32 17 51.0
S.L. Benfica Portugal 1982 1984 60 46 11 3 76.7
A.S. Roma Italy 1984 1987 90 41 26 23 45.6
AC Fiorentina Italy 1987 1989 64 21 20 23 32.8
S.L. Benfica Portugal 1989 1992 106 72 26 8 67.9
U.C. Sampdoria Italy 1992 1997 170 71 52 47 41.8
S.S. Lazio Italy 1997 2001 136 78 32 26 57.4
England[17] England 2001 July 2006 67 40 17 10 59.7
Manchester City England July 2007 June 2008 45 19 11 15 42.2
Mexico Mexico June 2008 Present 4 3 0 1 75.0

See also

References

  1. ^ "Eriksson named as Man City boss". BBC Sport. 2007-07-06. Retrieved 2007-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Football: Svenmania at the City (The Sun Online)".
  3. ^ "Sven Goran Eriksson factfile". CNN. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  4. ^ "Sven Goran Eriksson". ESPN. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  5. ^ Lovejoy, Joe (2004). Sven: The Final Reckoning. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-714069-X.p78
  6. ^ Drown 'n out, The Sun. Retrieved on 18 February 2008.
  7. ^ "Eriksson to quit after world cup". BBC sport. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  8. ^ ""England stumble on"". BBC sport. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  9. ^ "England's Coaches/Managers by Points Percentage in Major Tournament Matches". England Football Online. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  10. ^ "Eriksson named Man City manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Middlesbrough 8-1 Man City". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Eriksson's reign at Man City ends". BBC Sport. Retrieved June 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Sven takes on Mexico post". Sky Sports. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-06-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Sven-Goran Eriksson named Mexico's coach". LA Times. 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2008-06-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Sven lookalike fools Mexican club". Sky News. 18 July 2008.
  16. ^ From Swedish Wikipedia, Allsvenskan only. Some Svenska Cupen and other games are not included in this figure.
  17. ^ "England Hall of Fame". FA.com. Retrieved 2007-05-17.

External links

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