This is the moment Sven-Goran Eriksson was moved to tears by the Anfield faithful’s rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone when he fulfilled a childhood dream of managing Liverpool.
The former England manager was granted a lifelong wish of taking charge of the club he supported growing up for a legends match against Ajax in March after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
It was a poignant moment for the 76-year-old who died at home surrounded by his family this morning, just five months on from that emotional day in Merseyside.
During the game itself, Liverpool managed to recover from going 2-0 down to win 4-2.
But it was the iconic anthem being belted out by the supporters that perhaps meant the most to the Swede.
‘Everybody was a winner today,’ he said at the time. ‘It was beautiful, absolutely incredible. Everything from You’ll Never Walk Alone to the rest of the match.
‘We were down 2-0 and won 4-2. We were the better team so it was a fair result. But this was fantastic. Crying (yes there was tears).’
Eriksson was given a standing ovation before kick-off in what will now be remembered as an even more special occasion than it felt on the day.
He clapped and waved to cheering fans as he stood alongside club legend and captain Steven Gerrard on the famous Anfield turf, who put his arm around his former international boss.
It was all smiles for Eriksson before he was reduced to tears by You’ll Never Walk Alone.
In January this year, he’d revealed he had, at best, little more than 12 months to live.
Just days before he died, an Amazon Prime documentary was released in which he issued a heartbreaking goodbye message.
‘I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do,’ he said.
‘Don’t be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds, it’s been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it.’
Speaking candidly as he approached the end, Eriksson added: ‘I had a good life. I think we are all scared of the day when we die, but life is about death as well.
‘You have to learn to accept it for what it is. Hopefully at the end people will say, “yeah, he was a good man”. But everyone will not say that.’
It was also perhaps apt that the legends game mirrored Eriksson’s seesaw career, which ranged from the historic 5-1 win over Germany as England manager, right through to his brief stint as a director of football at Notts County.
Things didn’t go to plan for Eriksson during the match at first.
His side, which contained the likes of Fernando Torres and Sami Hyypia, trailed Ajax 2-0 at half-time.
A few classic Sven tactical tweaks at the break sparked a typical Anfield comeback with the home side eventually running out 4-2 winners with Fernando Torres getting on the scoresheet.
‘I think we were the better team in the first half you always worry when you lose but extremely good second half,’ Eriksson added. ‘The big winners are all around us.’
Gerrard revealed at the time that Eriksson had been crucial to instigating the second half turnaround with some typically shrewd tactical advice.
He said: ‘He made a lot of changes at half time and gave us extra width, we kept trying to force through the middle. He’s still got the magic.
‘It’s always been fantastic when this crowd get going. They’re building the capacity now and they hepled us turn the game around.
‘It’s all for a good cause and there will be a lot of money raised. Sven being here was special, as soon as I knew he was going to be the gaffer I couldn’t wait to come and play for him one more time.’
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