Swedish football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, who became the first foreigner to lead the England national team, died on Monday at the age of 76, his agent says.
Eriksson, a charismatic coach who led Swedish, Portuguese and Italian clubs to major trophies in the 1980s and 1990s before taking on the England job in 2001, announced earlier this year that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer.
He said at the time he had "at best" a year to live.
His agent, Bo Gustavsson, told Reuters he had died on Monday morning, local time.
His family said: "Sven-Göran Eriksson has passed away. After a long illness, SGE died during the morning at home surrounded by family."
Eriksson's managerial career began in Sweden in 1977 with Degerfors, before leading Gothenburg to the Swedish title, two Swedish cups and the 1982 UEFA Cup.
He left Sweden to manage Portuguese giants Benfica in two spells, and Italian sides Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Lazio.
At Lazio, he won seven trophies including the Serie A title, two Italian Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup.
Eriksson led England to the quarterfinals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and at the 2004 European Championship, managing a golden generation of players including David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard.
In 2003, Eriksson oversaw a shock 3-1 friendly loss to Australia's Socceroos at Upton Park in London, with a team boasting four debutants and different starting XIs in each half.
It was Australia's first victory over England and was hailed as one of the biggest upsets in soccer history.
After leaving the England job in 2006, Eriksson coached Manchester City and Leicester City as well as the Mexico and Ivory Coast national sides and clubs in China and the Philippines.
In total, he won 18 trophies with 12 clubs.
He fulfilled a career ambition to take charge of a Liverpool team at Anfield when he coached the Reds Legends in a charity match in March.
His side defeated Ajax Legends 4-2.
"Rest in peace, Sven-Göran Eriksson. The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Sven's family and friends at this extremely sad time," Liverpool said on X.
In his native Sweden, where he is known simply as "Svennis", Eriksson was praised as a great sports leader.
"Svennis was a soccer innovator and a very popular person who maintained his core values despite all his international success," Sweden's Minister of Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed said in a post on social media X.
A documentary about his life, Sven, was released on Amazon Prime earlier this month.
"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."
Reuters/ABC
