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Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson fulfilled his dream of managing Liverpool, after leading the club in a charity legends game against Ajax at Anfield on Saturday.
Eriksson announced in January that he’d been diagnosed with cancer, adding that doctors had told him he had a year to live at “best”.
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After expressing his regret at never getting the opportunity to manage Liverpool, whom he has supported his whole life, the Merseyside club announced in February that the Swedish manager will be in the dugout for LFC Legends in the annual LFC Foundation charity match.
On Saturday, Eriksson was greeted to a standing ovation at Anfield after emerging from the tunnel and was visibly moved by the pre-kickoff singing of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. Eriksson’s coaching staff for the game comprised of club legends Ian Rush, John Barnes and John Aldridge.
Eriksson’s side, which featured the likes of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Daniel Agger, were 2-0 down to the Jari Litmanen captained-Ajax side courtesy of goals from Derk Boerrigter and Kiki Musampa.
Grégory Vignal pulled a goal back for Liverpool in the second half and celebrated by running over to embrace Eriksson in the dugout. Djibril Cissé’s header squared things up before Nabil El Zhar gave the home side the lead for the first time in the game.
Fernando Torres, who missed a host of chances in the first half, added gloss to the win with a fourth goal much to the delight of those in attendance at Anfield.
“I think everybody was a winner today — it was beautiful, absolutely incredible,” Erikkson told LFC TV after the game.
“Everything from You’ll Never Walk Alone and the rest of the match, and a good win. We were under 2-0! We were all the time the better team so it was a fair result.”
Gerrard, who captained LFC Legends, was full of praise for his former England boss after the game.
“Sven being here today, it was special. When I heard he was going to be the gaffer today I couldn’t wait to come and play for him one more time.
“He made a lot of changes at half-time, gave us more width. He’s still got it — still got the magic!”