Sven-Göran Eriksson says he has ‘about a year’ to live

(CNN) — Former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has publicly said he is suffering from terminal cancer and has “about a year” to live, he told Swedish radio station P1 on Thursday.

CNN previously learned from a source close to Ericsson that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

“Everyone sees that I have a bad disease and everyone thinks it’s cancer, and it is. But I have to fight it as long as possible,” the Swede told P1, according to Reuters.

“I know that at best it’s about a year, at worst it’s even less.”

“I don’t think the doctors I have can be completely sure, they can’t give it a day.”

In another interview with the BBC, Ericsson said he learned of his cancer diagnosis when he was first hospitalized with what he called “five little strokes.” He said he was told the cancer was inoperable.

The veteran football coach is best known for his work as coach of the England national team.

Eriksson coached England’s so-called “golden generation”, working with stars such as David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand at two World Cups and one European Championship.

The Swede became the first foreign coach to coach an English team. Under Eriksson’s leadership – at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup – England lost to Portugal twice in penalty shootouts, both times in the quarter-finals.

Rooney, a former England captain, expressed support for his former manager on Thursday.

“Sad news this morning. My thoughts are with Sven Göran-Eriksson and his family. A brilliant coach and a special person. Everyone loves and respects. We are all with you, Sven, keep fighting.” public Rooney on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It was Eriksson who gave Rooney his England debut in 2003 against Australia, when the then Everton striker was just 17 years old.

Eriksson also managed Lazio in Italy, Manchester City in England and coached in China, Mexico and the Philippines during a career spanning more than 40 years.

The Swede was the coach of the Mexican national team for a short time: from August 2008 to April 2009, during which time he led the Mexican national team for 13 games.

Manchester shipment Best wishes to his former coach.

“Everyone at Manchester City is thinking of Sven-Göran Eriksson and we want to show our collective support to our former manager, his family and friends at this time,” the club said in a statement to X.