Sven-Goran Eriksson, 76, died on Monday. He was a Swedish football manager who spent five years as England’s first foreign-born coach after winning club titles in Italy, Portugal and Sweden.

Eriksson died at home, surrounded by family, according to his agent, Bo Gustavsson.

His death came eight months after he said he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had only one year to live.

That announcement prompted Eriksson to receive a flood of affection and homage from his former players and clubs, as well as a biographical documentary and a visit to his favourite club Liverpool, where he was invited to be manager for the day in a charity game.

Sven-Goran Eriksson, Swedish Soccer Coach Who Was First Foreigner To Lead England Team, Dies At 76

“As a coach, Sven-Goran was both a great innovator and a true ambassador of our beautiful game,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino, one of several prominent personalities in the sport who paid tribute to Eriksson on Monday.

Eriksson, affectionately known as “Svennis” in his native Sweden, had a short nine-year playing career before quitting at 27 and embarking on what proved to be a nomadic coaching career that peaked when he joined England in 2001.

Within months, he led an underachieving squad to a stunning trademark victory, 5-1, over Germany in Munich during a World Cup qualification game.

Eriksson guided what was seen as a “golden generation” of players, including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, and Wayne Rooney, to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002 and 2006, where Brazil and Portugal eliminated them.

In Eriksson’s only other big event, the 2004 European Championship, England was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Portugal after a penalty shootout, similar to the 2006 World Cup.

“We laughed, we cried, and we knew we were saying goodbye,” Beckham wrote in an Instagram post, accompanying footage of a recent meeting with Eriksson, who appointed him national team captain.

“Thank you, Sven, for always being who you are: passionate, kind, calm, and a great gentleman. I shall be eternally grateful to you for making me your captain, but I will cherish these final memories of this day with you and your family… Thank you, Sven, and in your final words to me, ‘It will be ok.'”

Eriksson’s term in one of international soccer’s most high-profile positions was remembered almost as much for what transpired off the field as what happened on it. He had two affairs, one with Swedish TV personality Ulrika Jonsson and the other with Faria Alam, a secretary at the Football Association, which kept England’s gossip-hungry press entertained.

“My private life was not very private in England,” Eriksson admitted in 2018.

His time with England coincided with the advent of a WAG (wives and girlfriends) culture, with high-profile players’ partners, such as Victoria Beckham, creating headlines after Eriksson permitted them to travel to Germany for the World Cup.

Eriksson later had brief stints in command of the Mexico, Ivory Coast, and Philippines national teams, although his only silverware came from club competitions.

In 1982, he won the league and cup double with Swedish club IFK Gothenburg, and he finished a remarkable season by winning the now-defunct UEFA Cup.

Eriksson won back-to-back Portuguese crowns with Benfica (1982-84) and the Portuguese Cup in 1983 before returning to the club to reach the European Cup final in 1990, losing to AC Milan, and winning the league again in 1991.

He rose to prominence as a coach in Italy, primarily at Lazio, following stints at Roma (1984-87), Sampdoria (1992-97), where he won Italian Cups, and Fiorentina (1987-89).

From 1997 to 2001, he guided Lazio to only their second league victory—in 2000—following Juventus’ late-season collapse. He also won two Italian Cups and the final European Cup Winners’ Cup (in 1999).

Eriksson’s Lazio might have won Serie A in 1999, but they were beaten by AC Milan by a point and also lost in the UEFA Cup final in 1998.

“It was the best period of my career,” Eriksson recalled winning seven medals in four years when Italy competed with Spain for Europe’s top football league.

Eriksson profited from its owner, Sergio Cragnotti’s, huge expenditure at Lazio, with the Scudetto-winning squad featuring notable talents such as Juan Sebastián Verón, Pavel Nedved, and Sinisa Mihajlovic. The following season, the Roman club spent a world-record sum to sign Hernan Crespo and another Argentine striker, Claudio López, but Eriksson did not finish the season after being attracted by the England post.

He also had two year-long stints in club management in England, at Manchester City (2007-08) and Leicester (2010-11), followed by a stint as director of football at fourth-tier Notts County, which briefly had the kind of money — following its purchase by a Middle Eastern consortium — to attract a high-profile name like Eriksson.

Eriksson, a bespectacled and straight-talking coach, was well-liked by his players and considered an effective man-manager. He radiated calm authority in the locker room and was never afraid to make hard decisions, such as selling Guiseppe Signori, Lazio’s captain and best striker, since Eriksson did not believe the player had a positive impact. Lazio won the league the next season.

Sven-Goran Eriksson, Swedish Soccer Coach Who Was First Foreigner To Lead England Team, Dies At 76

Eriksson concluded his coaching career by managing two Chinese clubs, Guangzhou and Shanghai SIPG, and most recently served as sports director at Karlstad, a team in Sweden’s third level, before announcing in February 2023 that he would be stepping down for health reasons.

They became well-known 11 months later, when Eriksson told Swedish Radio that he had terminal cancer, stating, “At best, I have maybe a year, at worst, a little less.”

“I could go and think about it all the time and sit at home and be grumpy and think I’m unlucky and so on,” he told me. “I believe that you can easily end up there.

“No, look at things optimistically and don’t dwell on misfortune. Because, of course, this is the most significant setback.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated that Eriksson “lives on in the hearts of the Swedish people.”

“Svennis’ importance to football, in Sweden and outside Sweden, cannot be overestimated,” Kristersson told the press. “I can only fathom how many girls and boys have started playing football—and dared to dream—as a result of his efforts. “Thanks for everything, Svennis!”

SOURCE | AP

Novak Djokovic aims to break Grand Slam records at the US Open, while Jannik Sinner tries to overcome a drug scandal.

If defending champion Djokovic wins his fifth championship, he will become the tournament’s oldest Open era victor, joining Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer.

The 37-year-old would also reach 25 Grand Slam titles, surpassing Margaret Court’s current total of 24.

The final Grand Slam of the year arrives at a key juncture for Djokovic.

This year, Sinner won the Australian Open and dethroned him as the world number one.

Carlos Alcaraz won the French Open and then easily defeated Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

However, Djokovic returned to Roland Garros’ clay courts to upset Alcaraz in the Olympic final, which he described on Saturday as “the greatest achievement and greatest highlight of my career overall, winning the gold for Serbia.”

Djokovic became only the fifth player to complete a career Golden Slam, winning all four majors and an Olympic gold medal.

The triumph silenced naysayers who had written off the Serbs as a spent force in a new era where Sinner, 23, and 21-year-old Alcaraz are steadily pushing to the forefront.

Djokovic, who had surgery on his right knee in June, expressed concern that his chances of winning Olympic gold were fading.

“At 37, I wondered if this was the last chance. Maybe. “So I had to push harder than I had ever done,” he explained.

“It turned out to be one of my best performances in years, over the entire competition.

“Of course in the finals against Carlos, it was kind of a dream scenario really, having my wife and children there, the entire nation watching.”

When they draped the gold around his neck and played the Serbian song, Djokovic described it as “probably the most intense emotions I have ever had on a tennis court.”

Sinner, meanwhile, returns after an extremely exhausting doping inquiry in which he avoided a lengthy penalty when investigators accepted his claim that the illicit chemical entered his blood through contamination from a support team member.

In March, the 23-year-old Italian tested positive twice for clostebol, a banned anabolic substance. The International Tennis Integrity Agency exonerated him of misconduct this week, one day after winning the Cincinnati Masters.

“I’m just happy that it’s finally out,” said Sinner, who sacked his physiotherapist and trainer following the encounter.

However, his hopes for “clean air” at the US Open could be crushed as players query why there was no notification of an interim suspension as the inquiry continued.

Sinner stated that he would not be concerned about his reputation.

“This, I can’t really control,” he said. “So let’s see.”

Alcaraz, who won his first major at the US Open in 2022, was severely harmed by his loss to Djokovic in the Olympic final.

He burst into tears on the court, saying he felt he had “let Spain down”.

Despite losing his cool in a second-round loss to Cincinnati and a strained ankle during practice at Flushing Meadows, he remains confident he will be “100 percent” for his first-round encounter on Tuesday.

Coco Gauff, the defending women’s champion, has experienced a recent fall in form, prompting concerns about her ability to retain her US Open title, a feat last accomplished by Serena Williams in 2014.

A tumultuous third-round departure from the Olympics was followed by early losses in Toronto and Cincinnati.

The 2022 champion, five-time major winner and world number one Iga Swiatek, advanced to the Cincinnati semi-finals before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion who finished second to Gauff in New York last year, is another contender in a wide-open group that includes Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen.

Indianapolis — Caitlin Clark entered the WNBA with many questions about how she’d manage the adjustment to professional basketball.

Three months into her professional career, the answer is clear: better than imagined.

It may have taken a bit longer than Clark or the Indiana Fever had hoped, but she is having a record-breaking debut season and establishing a new image.

Caitlin Clark’s Progression Answers Questions About How She Would Handle The Transition To The WNBA

Iowa’s No. 1 overall pick is known for her record-breaking NCAA scoring, notably those long 3-pointers. She now has assistant records.

“I’ve always been able to see something before it happens,” Clark remarked recently after the Fever defeated Phoenix to complete their first season sweep of any team since 2020. “Kelsey Mitchell can now tell when I want her to go back door, cut off the ball, or do something like that. It’s the chemistry that develops when you’re used to playing together.

“It’s taken time, but I think we’re really starting to get it down.”

Anyone who has watched — millions of fans still tuning in — can see the difference.

After fumbling out of the start, the Fever opened this season with nine games in 16 days, losing eight, while Clark needed help understanding the playbook and fit in. Her turnovers outnumber her assists. There were more questions than answers as frustration crept into the mix.

Since then, Indiana has responded by finishing 12-7 and securing its playoff spot. All of the angst has been replaced with smiles and high fives.

It isn’t just luck.

Clark challenged during the Olympic break.
A tight timeline between the end of Clark’s collegiate season and the start of the WNBA season left little time for Indiana to practice — or for the players to grasp one other’s peculiarities. So, during the month-long Olympic break, coach Christie Sides altered the practice schedule and challenged Clark.

“There were a lot of times during drills where they were running certain offences and I would tell (Clark), and only her, so she would have to tell the players what we’re running or where to go,” said Sides. “I would throw some things out there, some sets we hadn’t run so she had to think it through and put people in the right position.”

Clark has responded, and her teammates appear to be taking her cue.

In its first two games back from the break, Indiana looked impressive, defeating Phoenix and Seattle. The Fever outscored the Storm 33-17 in the last ten minutes.

Mitchell is 11 of 21 on three-pointers and has 55 points since the start, while Lexi Hull had a season-high 22 points and was 6 of 7 on threes in her last game. Forward, Aliyah. Boston, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, also had nine assists versus the Storm after outperforming Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner on Friday. Indiana meets Minnesota on Saturday.

“You have to adjust,” Mitchell added, explaining his learning experience with Clark. “She had to transition as a professional, and we had to provide her with what she needed, serve as a reference, and fill in the gaps. She’s one of those players whose (basketball) IQ is going to lead us a long way, so you’ve got to figure out where you fit in by reading and adapting to her.”

Clark leads the WNBA rookies in scoring.
Since her dubious record-setting 10-turnover debut, Clark’s assist-to-turnover ratio has increased from 1.23 to 1 in May and June to 2.19 to 1 in eight games since July 1. Records appear to fall every week:

— On Sunday, she surpassed the WNBA’s single-season rookie assist record, reaching No. 232 and ending Ticha Penicheiro’s 26-year reign.

— Clark shattered the league’s single-game record for assists with 19 in her final game before the break, capping a seven-game streak of six double-digit assists.

— If Clark continues to average 8.3 assists per game, she may break Alyssa Thomas’ single-season record 316, which she established last season.

Caitlin Clark’s Progression Answers Questions About How She Would Handle The Transition To The WNBA

She needs eight 3s to beat Rhyne Howard’s rookie record of 85 set in 2022, and with 22 3s in the final 12 games, she would become the seventh WNBA player to reach 100 in a season.

In addition to his assists, Clark is the league’s leading rookie scorer, with 17.8 points per game.

Clark and Fever are the most-watched players in the WNBA
Her performance hasn’t quenched social media debates about how opponents handle her or whether she should have made the US Olympic team. And she remains a major fan favorite. The Fever has the league’s highest home and away attendance (16,956 and 15,306, respectively).

Clark is still a must-see TV show.

The game on ION received 1.21 million viewers, approximately three times more than the Connecticut-Dallas game on the same network that night.

The Fever game on ABC had 2.23 million people, a significant increase over two games in a rare CBS broadcast on Saturday — New York-Las Vegas had 874,000 viewers and Minnesota-Washington had 577,000.

Only Washington and Dallas have fewer wins than Indiana (13-15) of the teams televised last weekend.

What scares opponents is that Clark and her teammates are still getting to know one another. However, as she drives Indiana’s postseason push, her development and flexibility simplify playing together.

“I think it’s just been developing the chemistry with my teammates to the point where they can see it and be on the same page,” Clark said of the turnaround. “Now you see individuals cutting on fast breaks and Kelsey making a backdoor cut. It’s having that unspoken chemistry, where I’m not ordering them to do something, but they can simply read my eyes and understand.”

SOURCE | AP