Ex-England boss Sven-Göran Eriksson diagnosed with terminal cancer

Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, who coached the country's 'golden generation' at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, says he is suffering from cancer and could be less than a year old to live “to the best”.

Eriksson told Swedish radio P1 that he discovered he had cancer after suddenly collapsing. He said in February last year that he was cutting back on his public appearances due to health concerns.

“Everyone understands that I have a disease that is not good, and everyone guesses that it is cancer and it is,” Eriksson said in an interview published Thursday.

Eriksson said he had pancreatic cancer and was inoperable.

“At best I have maybe a year, at worst maybe a little less,” he said.

The 75-year-old said he was trying to think positively.

“I might think about it all the time and stay home and be grumpy and think I'm unlucky and so on,” he said. “I think it’s easy to do, let’s end it there.

“No, look at things positively and don't wallow in adversity. Because of course that's the biggest setback.”

Eriksson became the first ever foreign-born English manager after making his name winning club league titles with Lazio in Italy, Benfica in Portugal and Gothenburg in his native Sweden.

Eriksson coached England between 2001 and 2006, with a star cast of players including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups before being eliminated by Brazil and Portugal respectively.

In the only other major tournament managed by Eriksson – Euro 2004 – England were also eliminated in the quarter-finals, again by Portugal and via penalties.

Eriksson's last coaching role was with the Philippines national team in 2018-19 and most recently served as sporting director at Karlstad, a Swedish third division team.