by Even for managers who have won European club trophies and coached at the World Cup, football can still be about simple dreams. For Sven-Goran Eriksson, a lifelong dream came true at Anfield on Saturday and he was grateful for it.
As memories go, managing Liverpool – even a Liverpool Legends side – to a 4-2 win over Ajax was a special box that was slowly being ticked for young Reds fans.
It was only a charity match for the club’s foundation but almost 60,000 people were still inside the ground and as he undertook a poignant post-match lap with both teams, they made sure he knew how they felt.
In the background was the Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. ‘Don’t worry about a thing…’ For a stunning 90 minutes, Eriksson’s only concern was mastering a win that didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things.
“I was crying a little bit,” he admitted. “People singing, good win…it was beautiful.
“That will be a huge memory in life. It has been a dream of my whole life to sit on the bench for Liverpool and now it has happened. Thank you Liverpool for giving me this opportunity.
“Liverpool has been my dream club all my life. Even when I had England I also supported Liverpool but I couldn’t say it at the time!
“It’s a good finish, Liverpool. It can’t get much better than that.”
Eriksson has less than a year to live, according to his doctor’s estimate. Pancreatic cancer is terminal. So every remaining minute is precious for England’s first overseas manager.
Stop-the-clock diagnoses like Eriksson’s bring into sharp focus what really matters.
Throughout his personal life when he was England manager, football was – and still is – what makes Eriksson tick.
You only had to watch him on his seat – and regularly out of it – during the game to understand that
At 76, he still loves the game and lives it. His career-long world management tour, taking in Italy, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand, China, the Ivory Coast and the Philippines, only came to an end as sporting director at Swedish club Karlstad last year.
Despite what Bill Shankly once said or might have said, football doesn’t matter much against matters of life and death but that doesn’t make it unimportant. The satisfaction he gave Eriksson at Anfield was unbridled.
He spoke on Friday about his honor when he was allowed to watch Liverpool training sessions under Bob Paisley in 1979 when he was the new manager in Sweden.
That watch guide was upgraded on Saturday as he led a Legends side featuring Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. The advantage for the former England manager is that at least he didn’t have the headache of having to mark Frank Lampard into midfield this time.
He decided that there was no need for a team talk.
“They all played Liverpool style. If you’re wearing a Liverpool shirt you know how to move the ball. Make it simple. Don’t make it complicated. I should learn from them and not the other way around,” he said.
An oval was standing as he walked out in front of the kick-off holding the hand of a mascot. He walked to the four stands and took a small bow before sitting in the middle of a team photo while You’ll Never Walk Alone played around Anfield.
As they sang the words, all thoughts turned to Eriksson. If there was sadness in the stadium at that moment there was also great joy that they were there to celebrate a life that could not be described as anything but complete.
The game was, without a doubt, a slow-motion encounter between ex-footballers whose legs are no longer working properly at the pace required of them. The junior pitch invader interrupted the game to beat Steven Gerrard for a selfie before being escorted off by stewards.
But there were enough flecks of gold dust – a flick from Torres here, a neat turn from Edgar Davids there – to keep everyone’s attention. There was even a bicycle kick – admittedly into the Kop – from Dirk Kuyt.
Eriksson was devastated. When Torres blocked a shot in the first half after Derk Boerrigter had given Ajax the lead in the second minute, he was on his feet in frustration.
Kiki Musampa made it 2-0 but when Gregory Vignal pulled one back for Liverpool in the 54th minute the Frenchman crossed to Eriksson for a celebratory header.
Djibril Cisse equalized before the right script was delivered with further goals from Nabil El Zhar and Torres in the last 10 minutes.
Eriksson wore a wide smile as the final whistle blew. It was a sad event, yes, but there was also great joy.
