Sven Goran Eriksson had an emotional reunion with Sampdoria fans and members of his star-studded squad at Marassi, including Roberto Mancini, Clarence Seedorf and Attilio Lombardo.
The coach revealed his terminal cancer diagnosis and has been eager to make his final months happy ones, visiting numerous former clubs including Benfica and Gothenburg, while getting to be Liverpool manager for one day at Anfield in a charity match.
Eriksson spent much of his career in Serie A and was visiting the Stadio Luigi Ferraris today, where Sampdoria took on Serie B side Reggiana.
“I was here for five wonderful years and was very happy with the fans, the city and the club. We played some very enjoyable games together,” Eriksson told Sky Sport Italia.
“I think we could’ve won more, as we played good football.”
Eriksson reunion with Sampdoria stars
Now 76, Eriksson was on the Sampdoria bench from 1992 to 1997, winning the Coppa Italia trophy in 1994.
His other Italian clubs were Roma, Fiorentina and Lazio.
Eriksson was greeted at Marassi by a banner from the Sampdoria fans: ‘We will support you in this battle too… Welcome back to Genoa, Mister Eriksson.’
Above all, there was a reunion of several players from Eriksson’s Samp squad, including Clarence Seedorf, Roberto Mancini, Attilio Lombardo, Giovanni Invernizzi, Alberico Evani, Fausto Salsano, Enrico Chiesa, Pierre Laigle, Salvatore Lanna, Claudio Bellucci, Pippo Maniero and Riccardo Maspero.
Känns mäktigt att vara på plats på Luigi Ferraris för att hylla Sverige och Blåvitts störste tränare någonsin, Sven-Göran Eriksson.
Blir heller inte sämre av att ett 50-tal legender är på plats och Andrea Pirlo och Alessandro Nesta sitter på Sampdoria och Reggianas tränarbänkar pic.twitter.com/Kk3y9vnpko
— Carl (@CW_02s) May 5, 2024
— DAZN Italia (@DAZN_IT) May 5, 2024