Sven-Goran Eriksson sheds tears during legends charity match as he fulfils dying wish

Sven-Goran Eriksson sheds tears during a Liverpool v Ajax legends charity match as he fulfils his dying wish at Anfield on Saturday.

The former England manager, who is a boyhood Liverpool fan, revealed that he had terminal cancer back in January, saying he has “at best, a year to live”.

But this weekend, Eriksson played a role in the Reds’ management squad during the match, in which the hosts made an impressive comeback from being two goals behind at half-time to secure a 4-2 victory.

This remarkable win was made possible by the outstanding goals scored by Gregory Vignal, Djibril Cisse, Nabil El Zhar, and Fernando Torres, all of which were celebrated by the Kop End.

Liverpool: Dudek; Kvarme, Skrtel, Agger, Aurelio; Maxi, Sissoko, Spearing, Babel; Gerrard, Torres

Subs: Kirkland, Westerveld, Hyypia, Vignal, Biscan, Gonzalez, Cisse, El Zhar, Kuyt, Litmanen

Ajax: Gentenaa; Van Rhijn, Lindenbergh, De Zeeuw, Emanuelson; Litmanen, Enoh, Van der Vaart, Tahamata; De Jong, Boerrigter

Subs: Lobont, Bijl, Silooy, Winter, Van Halst, Davids, Witschge, Musampa, Perez, Krohn-Dehli, Wijnhard, De Boer, Wooter, Babel

“I think everybody was a winner today and it was beautiful, absolutely fantastic, incredible: everything from You’ll Never Walk Alone and the rest of the match, and a good win – we were 2-0 down and won 4-2!” Eriksson said.

When asked to describe how he felt during Anfield’s traditional pre-match rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone, the former England manager replied: “I was crying.”

Captained by Steven Gerrard – who played under Eriksson at international level – Liverpool turned the scoreline around after the interval and Eriksson stated: “He [Gerrard] is the boss out there – of course [he still has it]!

“We were all the time the better team, I think, so it was a fair result. But this [Anfield] is fantastic.

“I think we were the better team even in the first half, even if we were 2-0 down. You always worry when you lose but as I said, very good first half and extremely good second half. A good win, a fair win, but the big winners are everybody here.

“I think the Man of the Match is the public, the crowd, but it was a good football game to look at. They [the players] can still play football. Very good.

“They are not 20 years old anymore and it’s good football, extremely good football. 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.

“[It is] a memory for life.”

A special Anfield ovation for Sven-Göran Eriksson ❤️ pic.twitter.com/632Y9uiJQY

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 23, 2024

Steven Gerrard spoke on how special it is to return to Anfield…

It’s always been fantastic. When this crowd get going, especially in night games, it’s a powerful crowd. Obviously they’re building the capacity as we go along, it was 59,000 today. And I think they helped us turn the game around. 2-0 down at half-time but we felt it was against the run of play. We had to get the next goal and I thought the lads were terrific second half.

It’s all for a good cause, we’ve got to remember why we’re here – we’re here for a good cause. There’s going to be a lot of money raised today going to go to some fantastic causes. Sven being here today was very special; as soon as I knew he was going to be the gaffer today, I couldn’t wait to come and play for him one more time.

On turning the game around in the second half…

He [Sven] changed a lot of things at half-time, I think he knew we didn’t have any width in the first half and we were trying to force it through the middle. He made a lot of changes at half-time, gave us more width, asking us to stretch it more. He’s still got it! He’s still got the magic at half-time, he made a difference.

On being part of the occasion…

There’s three things. You want to come and play with your mates again. You obviously want to come for the cause, to help raise as much money. But the opportunity to play in front of these fans again, that’s the buzz. I was on the flight, I was like a big kid coming over. Six-and-a-half-hour flight, I couldn’t wait to get here. That’s what it’s all about.

On whether he is savouring these events more as he gets older…

Yeah, because I know I’m only going to play in front of this crowd another couple of times maybe. 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.

On today’s opponents…

A huge thank-you to Ajax as well, give them credit [for] coming over. We need them here as well to participate. We’ve raised over £6 million [through legends matches], played Barcelona, Ajax, Real Madrid. Hopefully it keeps coming.

You can support the work of LFC Foundation with a donation at liverpoolfc.com/donate

Twitter users reacted as Sven-Goran Eriksson sheds tears during the Liverpool v Ajax legends charity match as he his fulfils dying wish…

@Cumbo7: Absolutely class from Liverpool today to sort all this for Sven 👏👏👏

@JLCIAM: I met him once, we spoke for 15 minutes. He is a kind, warm and humble man. I’m so happy he got to fulfill a dream at Anfield today ❤

@stevehowden13: Well done Liverpool, fantastic effort by all.

@sashtlfc: Forever making me proud that this is my club ❤️

@LfcHendy: He never coached Liverpool but stayed through to his color 🛑 and now his long time dream is been realized…. what a moment what a day for SGE. Thank you Jugen Klopp. Thank you Liverpool. THIS MEANS MORE. YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE

@AndythePandy_: Incredible gesture by Liverpool today…

@baldypaul: So happy about this!

@TaylorBrown98: Made up for him. You can see how much it means. #LFC

@Sammipartingto1: Well done Liverpool for this it’s absolutely beautiful

@43mccauley: Fantastic to see the club giving this man a lifelong wish during his troubled times 👏👏👏💔

@Leethomas88: Look at his face, what a moment for the man 🥲 #YNWA

@Carsten37147192: These moments are the really important ones in life! Thank you to Liverpool for making this possible for this coaching legend! Thank you 🥰

@EFCClassOf85: Great of you to fulfill his wish 💙

@Ianokelly8: Fair play to everyone. It’s great to see Sven enjoy his time at Anfield today.

@Nic_Hitch: This is the absolute best – so pleased they won! ❤️❤️

@lostsoulofsport: Well played Liverpool. That’s lovely to see. ♥️

@DannyWright82: 👏 Well done LFC for giving him this opportunity.

@cazbarnes47: Great game. Very emotional seeing Sven so emotional 🥹 Well done @LFC for making his dreams come true. And for helping all the people you do arranging these charity games plus all the behind the scenes work that happens 🫶🏼 #YNWA ❤️

@MrKev1980: Always liked Sven, treated absolutely horrendously by our #ScumMedia but its great to see him smiling despite what he must be going through

@TheBondurants: Well done to everyone at Liverpool Football Club, for letting this man live his life long dream! 👏 This is what life is all about!