After Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan had come and gone in a relatively short space of time, FA administrators took the unprecedented step of appointing Sven-Goran Eriksson as national team boss, the first overseas incumbent. The decision angered some, while others praised the farsightedness of bringing in a man with an excellent record as a coach. Eriksson hit the headlines in 1982, when he took IFK Gothenburg to the UEFA Cup Final. His team beat Valencia and Kaiserslautern along the way and Hamburg in the Final, becoming the first Swedish side to lift a European trophy. Eriksson was back there again in 1983, this time with Benfica. On this occasion he finished on the losing side, Anderlecht coming out on top over the two legs.
Lazio’s first championship for 26 years
Eriksson won three championships with Benfica and made it to the 1990 European Cup final, where his team lost I -0 to the all-conquering AC Milan. Serie A beckoned next and Eriksson had spells at Roma, Fiorentina and Sampdoria before joining Lazio in 1997. His first season with the Rome club was a rollercoasterThe team won the Italian Cup, fell away in the league and went down 3-0 to Inter in the UEFA Cup final. In 2000 he delivered the Serie A title, Lazio's first championship for 26 years. He was appointed England manager the following yean when the team was in a precarious position in the World Cup qualifying campaign. He galvanised the team, taking England to the top of their group with results including a memorable 5-1 win in Germany. He got England out of the “Group of Death” in Japan and Korea and the team beat a good Danish side before going out to eventual winners Brazil.
England 5 Germany
Above: The scoreboard records the moment - England's great victory over rivals Germany after having lost the home game of the World Cup qualifying group at Wembley 1-0.
Below: Steve Gerrard scores and celebrates with Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell (below).
World History
