Metro Manila, Philippines — Former Philippine men’s football team head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson has died from pancreatic cancer in Sweden on Monday. He was 76.
“Our father Sven-Göran Eriksson fell asleep peacefully in his home at Björkefors outside Sunne this morning. He has for a long time fought bravely with his illness, but now it came to an end,” his children Lina and Johan said in a joint statement on his website.
Eriksson, born Swedish, was known for being the first foreign manager of the England football team from 2001 to 2006. He led the squad to quarterfinal appearances in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups and the 2004 Euros.
He had major success with different clubs in Sweden, Portugal, and Italy, winning a handful of trophies.
Eriksson was appointed the head coach of the Philippine men’s football team, then known as the Azkals, in 2018.
He steered the Azkals to a semifinals finish at the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup — Southeast Asia’s premier tournament — bowing to eventual champions Vietnam.
