Football: Sven-Goran Eriksson, charismatic England coach, dies at 76

Sven-Goran Eriksson became the first foreigner to lead the England football team in 2001. Photo: Offside Sports Photography/www.photosport.co.nz

Swedish football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who became the first foreigner to lead the England national team, has died at the age of 76, his agent says.

Eriksson, a charismatic coach who led Swedish, Portuguese and Italian clubs to major trophies in the 1980s and 1990s before taking on the England job in 2001, announced earlier this year that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer.

Eriksson's long-time agent Bo Gustavsson said Eriksson had lost his battle with cancer early on Monday (local time), 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 quarter-finals 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.

In his native Sweden, where he is known simply as "Svennis", Eriksson was praised as a great sports leader.

"Svennis was a soccer innovator and a very popular person who maintained his core values despite all his international success," Sweden's Minister of Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed said in a post on social media X.

After leaving the England job in 2006, Eriksson coached Manchester City and Leicester City as well as the Mexico and Ivory Coast national sides and clubs in China and the Philippines.

He fulfilled a career ambition to take charge of a Liverpool team at Anfield when he coached the Reds Legends in a charity match in March.

"Rest in peace, Sven-Goran Eriksson. The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Sven's family and friends at this extremely sad time," Liverpool said on X.

- Reuters