Sven-Göran Eriksson is seriously ill, as he announced via radio station P1. The 75-year-old former football coach has incurable cancer and has at most a year to live. “I have to fight as long as possible,” the Swede shows himself combatively.

“Everyone knows that I have a disease that is not good,” the Swede opens at the radio station. “People suspected it was cancer and it is. But I have to fight as long as I can.”

There was speculation about Eriksson's health after he quit as sporting director at Swedish club Karlstad. Now he reveals he collapsed after a run last year and discovered he was seriously ill. “But other than that I am a fit and healthy person.”

After a visit to his doctor, it turned out that Eriksson had suffered a stroke and also had cancer. “They don't know how long the cancer has been in my body. Maybe a month, maybe a year. They don't know.”

Eriksson dares not say anything about the exact lifespan. “Maybe in the best case a year and in the worst case a little less. Maybe a little longer. You can't be completely sure. It's also better not to think about it.”

Eriksson immediately shows himself to be combative. “You can fool your brain. See the positive in things. Don't wallow in setbacks, because this is of course the biggest setback you can get. Try to make something beautiful out of it.”

Career
As a player, Eriksson was active in the lower divisions of Swedish football. After he was forced to retire in 1975 due to a serious knee injury, he devoted himself to a career as a trainer.

Eriksson started as a coach at Degerfors IF, which he took from the third to the first division in three years. Partly due to this success, he signed with IFK Göteborg not much later, with which he became champion in 1982, won the cup and the UEFA Cup.

Eriksson spent most of his coaching career in Italy, where he was in charge of AS Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Lazio. He also won the national championship several times with Benfica and was national coach of England, Mexico and Ivory Coast.

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