Sven-Goran Eriksson said he had made “a memory for life” after realising his dream to manage Liverpool. The emotional Swede was left in tears by a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone. The former England manager has revealed he has less than a year to life due to pancreatic cancer. Steven Gerrard captained the Reds and Fernando Torres was among the goalscorers in a 4-2 win over Ajax legends.
Sven-Goran Eriksson could not hold back the tears as “You’ll Never Walk Alone” rained down from a full Anfield, with the former England boss getting to live out his lifelong dream of managing Liverpool, for the day, at least.
With Eriksson in charge, a collection of Liverpool legends – even if the term applies rather loosely to some of those involved – got the better of Ajax legends 4-2 at a sold out Anfield on Saturday.
Eriksson, who revealed in January he has less than a year to live due to pancreatic cancer, never got to manage the Reds in a hugely successful nomadic coaching career that took him from his native Sweden to becoming the first foreigner to manage the Three Lions, via league titles with Benfica and Lazio in Portugal and Italy respectively.
The 76-year-old had sat in the home dugout at Anfield before in England wins over Finland, Paraguay and Uruguay, and while the stakes might not have been the same, the sentiment was even greater for Eriksson.
“I was crying,” he admitted at a rendition of Liverpool’s traditional pre-match anthem. “[It is] a memory for life.”
A campaign by Liverpool fans succeeded in handing Eriksson his day to remember after he revealed he had been a boyhood fan of the club when his cancer diagnosis became known.
Eriksson had one of his former players to thank for going out as a winner as Steven Gerrard captained his side to a second-half fightback.
Ajax had led 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Derk Boerrigter and Kiki Musampa but, in front the Kop, Liverpool hit back through Gregory Vignal, Djibril Cisse, Nabil El Zhar and Fernando Torres.
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He is the boss out there – of course he still has it!” Eriksson said of Gerrard, who is now managing Saudi side Al Ettifaq.
“It’s fantastic, they come from all over the place, all over Europe and he [Gerrard] is coming from another part of the world to do this and it’s fantastic.”
Gerrard said he relishes the chance to play in the annual legends match more each year with the of opportunities he has to savour playing in front of his home crowd now numbered – as long as he watches his diet!
“I know I’m only going to play in front of this crowd another couple of times maybe,” he said. “That’s if I stay off the carbs and stay off the beers!
“I was just looking round at the end thinking to myself, ‘This is going to [happen] less and less so just savour every moment.’ It was brilliant.”
