The news came like a bolt out of the blue: "I have a serious illness. I have very little time left to live. At best a year, at worst, much less. Impossible to say exactly, so it's better not to think about it”. The shock statements are from former coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, 75, who told about his illness (pancreatic cancer) on Swedish radio station P1, news that was later picked up by the BBC and, inevitably, immediately went around the world. The great "Svennis" (as he has always been called confidentially in the soccer world) has collected more than 40 years as a coach and manager. A prestigious professional parabola interrupted less than a year ago, when he stepped down from his last role as sporting director at Swedish club Karlstad, precisely because of health problems. Eriksson has rightfully entered English soccer history, having been the first foreign technical commissioner of England, a national team he led for five years, from 2001 to 2006. During his career, he also won two Swedish championships, a Uefa Cup and a national cup with Göteborg, as well as three Portuguese championships, a national cup and a Portuguese supercup with Benfica. It was during his Lusitanian years that he was appreciated by President Dino Viola, who brought him to Roma in 1984: "You can somehow trick your brain, think positive and see things in the best way, don't lose yourself in adversity, because this of course is the greatest of all, but still get something good out of the experience," - Eriksson pointed out, during the radio interview in which he announced his illness - But it was especially in Italy that the Swedish coach collected the best successes, coaching Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Lazio. On the bench of the latter team, he won a Scudetto, two Italian Cups, a European Super Cup, two Italian Super Cups and a Cup Winners' Cup.
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