Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson has died at the age of 76.
A statement on his official website confirmed he died on Monday morning, surrounded by his family.
The Swede, who had been battling cancer, was the first foreign manager of the English national side, taking charge of 67 matches from 2001 to 2006.
He led England to the quarter-finals of three major tournaments in succession, including the World Cups of 2002 and 2006.
He was appointed after a successful career in club management, notably in Italy with Lazio.
Eriksson returned to the World Cup with Ivory Coast in 2010 and also had spells in charge of Manchester City and Leicester, among stints in several other countries.
Eriksson won the Serie A title with Lazio in 1999-2000 to add to the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup the previous season, also twice winning the Coppa Italia which he had previously lifted with Roma and Samp.
His time at Benfica brought three league titles, a domestic cup and two European finals and he led Gothenburg to UEFA Cup glory in 1982.
Eriksson’s life and career is the subject of a new Amazon Prime documentary which was released on Friday.
In it, the Swede talked about how he hoped to be remembered.
“I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do,” he said.
“Don’t be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds, it’s been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it.”
The England fans’ group Free Lions were among the first to pay tribute, posting on X: “RIP Sven. For the night in Munich, amongst everything else, thank you for the memories.”
That was a reference to England’s incredible 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich in a World Cup qualifier back in September 2001.
Eriksson had succeeded Kevin Keegan as national team boss and inherited a talented squad featuring the likes of David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.
Current Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham paid tribute to Eriksson on behalf of the governing body.
“This is a very sad day. He gave all England fans such special memories. No one can ever forget the 5-1 victory in Munich against Germany under Sven’s guidance,” Bullingham said.
“Sven will be rightly recognised and forever remembered for his significant work with the England team, and for his wider contribution to the game.
“On behalf of my colleagues at the FA, past and present, our thoughts are with his friends and family today.
He will be much missed, and we will pay tribute to him when we play Finland at Wembley next month.”
Eriksson revealed in January he had been told he had “best case” a year to live after being diagnosed with cancer.
There was a huge outpouring of support and love towards the Swede from former players and fans.
In March he was given the opportunity to coach his beloved Liverpool in a ‘Legends’ match at Anfield.
Eriksson said after the match: “To sit on the bench for Liverpool, that’s been my dream my whole life. Now it happened, and it was a beautiful day in all meanings.” (dpa/NAN
