A European Informational Website
learn more
(, born February 5, 1948) is a currently unemployed football manager from Sweden. Eriksson stepped down from his most recent position as the English national football team manager following England's exit from the 2006 World Cup; there was, however, considerable speculation that he was forced out by the English football authorities due to his tenure being punctuated by well-documented tabloid reports of his private life.
Born in Torsby, in Värmland, Eriksson had an unremarkable playing career in the lower divisions of Swedish football before being forced to retire prematurely due to a knee injury in 1975. After retirement, Eriksson became first a coach, and then manager of Degerfors IF, taking the side from the Third Division to the First Division in three years.
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 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 boss 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, but he only managed another Coppa Italia in 1994.
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 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.
Eriksson is so far the only manager who was won the Double (League and Cup in the same season), in three different countries, having won it in Sweden, Portugal and Italy.
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 deceided to resign his post at Lazio early, and he officially began his England duties in January of that year. Eriksson was the first foreigner 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 won the tournament.
After the World Cup, Eriksson's England came under more fire after an embarrassing home loss to Australia in a friendly and a draw with Macedonia in a Euro 2004 qualifier. England qualified for Euro 2004 and at the top of their qualification group, but the team's performance was decidedly mixed, and Eriksson was again criticized for England's overly-defensive performances in their first-round loss to France and their quarter-final elimination by hosts Portugal, which England lost on penalties. Eriksson has also been questioned for his perceived idiosyncratic substitution technique during friendlies and playing players out of position. His controlled, level-headed approach - he is seldom seen to display emotions publically - also drew speculations as to whether his passive style inspired his players. However, Eriksson still maintains a superb competitive match record.
In February 2005, Eriksson was again criticised, after he played striker Andy Johnson on the right-wing, in a poor-quality friendly against The Netherlands.
Eriksson has also had to weather considerable tabloid reporting of his private life, most notably his affairs with the television presenter Ulrika Jonsson[1], and FA secretary Faria Alam [2][3] (in a scandal that led to the resignation of the FA's chief executive, Mark Palios). Despite this, Eriksson has maintained a relationship with long-term partner, Italian property lawyer Nancy Dell'Olio.
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. 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. 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'. 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.
Germany 1 England 5 (2001) World Cup qualifier 2001
England 1-0 Argentina 2002 World Cup