LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Sven-Goran Eriksson received a standing ovation and a dramatic comeback win when taking charge of a Liverpool team for the first and likely last time on Saturday.
The former England manager was a Liverpool fan from childhood and said it was a dream come true to be given the chance to coach a team of the Merseyside club’s greats against Ajax in a charity match at Anfield.
“I think everybody was a winner today and it was beautiful, absolutely fantastic,” Eriksson said.
He revealed in January he had cancer and might have less than a year to live.
With his love of Liverpool well documented, he was asked to join club greats John Aldridge, John Barnes and Ian Rush on the sidelines for the annual charity game.
An Anfield crowd of 59,655 showed its appreciation for the Swedish coach, who is 76, with rousing applause as he walked onto the field before kickoff.
Earlier, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp showed his support when meeting Eriksson and the squad at its hotel.
A team that included Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres ensured Eriksson enjoyed a 4-2 win from 2-0 down at halftime.
READ MORE
Russia’s soccer friendly against Paraguay put off indefinitely due to Moscow terrorist attack
Canada and Costa Rica complete Copa América field by winning qualifiers
Wirtz scores Germany’s fastest ever goal in 2-0 win over France
Derk Boerrigter and Kiki Musampa put Ajax in front at the break, but goals from Gregory Vignal, Djibril Cisse, Nabil El Zhar and Torres sealed a win for the home team.
In January, Eriksson said he has pancreatic cancer and it was inoperable.
“At best I have maybe a year, at worst maybe a little less,” he said.
Eriksson had a storied career, winning championships in Italy, Portugal and Sweden. He was England manager from 2001-06.
This week he spoke about finally fulfilling his long-standing wish to manage Liverpool.
“When I was manager, I always dreamt about Liverpool, but it never happened,” he said. “It was close once. There were some discussions once. It was many years ago. It never happened but now it happens.”
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
