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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 12 2002 : 5:31:55 PM
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A difficult job!? National Coach!?
Sat Oct 12 15:26:43 2002
152.163.189.170
Eriksson ready for EURO adventure
Friday 11 October 2002
By Adam Szreter
Among the impressive list of delegates at the fifth UEFA Conference for European National Coaches in Warsaw, there was no bigger name than Sven-Göran Eriksson. Since becoming the first foreign manager of England two years ago, the spotlight has been on the 54-year-old like never before.
Endurance test
Even in the Polish capital he could not escape. After dealing with the English Press, there was a separate conference with Polish journalists. What did he think of Poland's chances against Sweden? Would he pick Jerzy Dudek if the Liverpool FC goalkeeper were English? Then there was the conference, in which Eriksson spoke about his FIFA World Cup experiences. Finally, he sat down to talk to uefa.com and revealed that, despite the pressure, he still enjoys his job.
'Much less football'
"I do, very much," he said. "It's a different job to club management - there is much less football but every game is so important so the pressure is much higher than in a club. Instead of standing on the pitch every morning you're sitting in the office or in a car going to see a football game somewhere in Europe. I miss being on the pitch but there are many advantages with this job as well."
Selection headache
There are also many tough decisions. "The hardest part is to select the right players - to decide if they're fit enough for a certain game or a big tournament," said Eriksson. "You have less control of the players as a national coach than you have in a club and it's very frustrating."
Italian achievement
Eriksson's profile rose in 1999 after guiding S.S. Lazio to their first European trophy - the last ever UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - before giving them their first Italian Scudetto for 26 years. Before that he had won the UEFA Cup with IFK Göteborg and led SL Benfica to the 1990 European Champion Clubs' Cup final.
Quote:
Eriksson: You have less control of the players as a national coach than you have in a club and it's very frustrating.
End of quote.
Triumph in Munich
He took over as England manager at a difficult time, but won World Cup qualification against the odds and famously led his side to a 5-1 win against Germany in Munich along the way. However, it was only a wonderful late David Beckham free-kick against Greece in the final qualifier that ensured an automatic passage to the Far East. "It's incredible," said Eriksson. "You see players who normally can pass a ball 50 metres precisely - they couldn't pass the ball five metres."
Strained relationship
Since the World Cup his relationship with the English press has shown signs of strain, especially after the 2-1 loss to Brazil which denied England a place in the semi-finals. "I thought I had a very good schooling - 13 years in Italy - but it can be worse in England," said Eriksson.
Brasilian regrets
"I might have tried to do things differently against Brazil," he added. "One thing we have to learn from that game is that, when you have a 1-0 lead and there are two minutes to play in the first half, don't ever give your opponents a chance to counterattack. That's what we did and they scored in the 44th minute. That's an extremely heavy goal to have to take with you into the dressing room."
Slovakian challenge
As for the next big tournament, Eriksson's plans for England's first qualifying matches are already at an advanced stage. "I went to see Slovakia playing a friendly against the Czech Republic. They are a hard-working team with good organisation, and I guess when they play at home it will be very difficult." Just how difficult, England and their Swedish coach will soon find out.
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Karl |
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A difficult job!? National Coach!?
