…David Beckham and Eriksson’s former partner Nancy Dell’Olio attended the service
Mourners paid their respects at the funeral of former England football manager Sven-Gõran Eriksson on Friday morning with David Beckham among the stars in attendance.
The Swede, who died last month aged 76, is being laid to rest in his hometown of Torsby.
His coffin was carried into Fryksände Church as hundreds of mourners gathered for the 10am service, including Eriksson’s former partner Nancy Dell’Olio, 63.
The funeral procession featured a brass band playing Eriksson’s favourite jazz tunes, such as You’ll Never Walk Alone and Bare Neccessities, as his coffin was carried to the Kollsberg Museum.
Next to the picturesque Lake Fryken, close friends and family read eulogies.
The lakeside museum situated in Torsby, Sweden, is about half a mile from Fryksande church where the funeral service took place.
Eriksson’s coffin arrived at Fryksande church at around 7am local time, long before the arrival of any of the 600 guests. A single bell tolled as his body was carried into the church.
Members of Sweden’s royal family attended, with roads surrounding the church in the small town where Eriksson grew up cordoned off by police.
Among those to arrive early were Eriksson’s children and his father as well as a childhood friend of the former Lazio and Benfica coach, Bengt Berg.
His final words, published posthumously, urged: “Don’t give up. Life is always, always to be celebrated.”
With just 200 seats inside the church, a big screen broadcasted the service for the overflow crowd in this town of 4,000.
Local pastor Ingela Älvskog, 64, a friend of Eriksson’s since 2014, led the ceremony in what’s set to be Torsby’s largest ever funeral.
Eriksson, who led England at three major tournaments, died on August 26 after suffering from pancreatic cancer.
Prior to his death, Eriksson had publicly spoken of his wish to be buried at the spot, returning to it for an Amazon Prime documentary and sharing his emotional connection to the area.
“A beautiful place, it makes you calm, makes me calm,” he said.
“If you look straight on, that’s Torsby, where I grew up. I always thought great place, to sleep. The ashes could be thrown into the water here. It feels like home.”
Under Eriksson’s direction, England reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002 and 2006, and the last-eight of Euro 2004.
He was England manager for five years, having previously guided Lazio to the Serie A title. He also managed Roma, Fiorentina and Sampdoria in Italy.
After stepping down from the England job, he held managerial posts with Manchester City, Leicester and the Mexico national team.
The England national team honoured him with a video tribute before their 2-0 victory against Finland earlier this week.
The Standard
