Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, 76, heartbreakingly reveals doctors can’t tell him how long he has left to live
SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON admits he doesn’t know how much longer he has left to live.
The former England and Manchester City manager bravely revealed in January that he’s been battling pancreatic cancer.
Doctors initially gave the Swede – who managed the Three Lions for five years and three tournaments – “about a year” to live.
But the 76-year-old has now revealed his doctors can’t give a definitive answer on when he’ll unfortunately lose his battle with the disease.
Writing in his Telegraph column, the former Lazio and Roma manager said: “If you ask the doctors how long I have left they can’t answer.”
Eriksson, sadly, has already accepted that the end of his colourful life is nigh.
But he’d rather not know when he’ll leave this world.
“Does that worry me?” he asked. “I think it’s better not to know.”
You usually find that everybody talks well about people when they are dead. I am lucky that they talk well about me while I am alive
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Like millions of cancer sufferers around the world, Eriksson has his good days and bad days.
He said: “On a day-to-day basis it’s a little bit up and down. Some mornings I wake up feeling totally perfect.
“Well almost, and the other mornings it’s a problem. But the good days are still here and I am fine.”
The outpouring of support and well-wishes he’s received since bravely announcing his diagnosis has moved Eriksson.
He said: “I have travelled all over Sweden, England, Italy and Portugal and I’ve had tears in my eyes so often at the kindness of people.
“You usually find that everybody talks well about people when they are dead.
“I am lucky that they talk well about me while I am alive.”
One person who has moved Eriksson over these last few emotional months is his former England skipper David Beckham, who recently visited him at his Bjorkefors farm.
Recalling Becks’ visit, Eriksson said: “He came with six litres of wine from dates that were important to me.
“He had wine from 1948 – the year I was born, very nice of him.
“He is genuine, he could have been a big diva, but he is quite the opposite.”