|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
All but done? Eriksson close to terms with England
Updated: Monday October 30, 2000 10:32 PM
LONDON (AP) -- England appeared on Monday to be on the brink of appointing Lazio coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as the first overseas manager to lead the national side -- and his credentials indicate he is the right man for the challenging position. While reports in Italy suggested the Swede had already agreed a five-year contract starting July next year, the Football Association said nothing had been signed. The English F.A. said Monday that talks were under way with the Swede, and that "real progress had been made." "Talks will resume in the near future," F.A. executive director David Davies said. "We have made good progress and that's why this news has come out from Italy. "We are very pleased with the progress we have made, that's very good news for anyone who cares about English football." Whoever takes over as England coach will inherit a squad short on confidence and bottom of its World Cup qualifying group. The highly-respected Eriksson has won league titles with Goteborg in Sweden, Benfica in Portugal and Lazio in Italy. He also took Benfica to the Champions Cup final in 1990, led Roma to second place in Serie A and Lazio to runners up in the 1998 UEFA Cup before collecting the last Winners Cup title with Lazio in 1999. English soccer was plunged into chaos in September when Kevin Keegan quit minutes after England's 1-0 loss at home to Germany in a World Cup qualifying game. The former Liverpool and Newcastle player, who had a successful spell as manager of Newcastle, admitted he didn't have the tactical skills to be the England coach. His departure at such a crucial stage left England six points behind Germany in the group standings and staring at failure to qualify. A 0-0 tie in Finland four days later under the caretaker guidance of Howard Wilkinson didn't improve things and the Football Association set up a panel of experts to find a new coach while calling on Leicester City's Peter Taylor and Manchester United No. 2 Steve McClaren to take charge of the team for a November 15 friendly against Italy in Turin. The panel, who said they hoped to have someone appointed by the end of the year, came up with three names they were chasing but didn't publicize the identities. The media speculated that they were Eriksson, Arsenal's French coach Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson, an Englishman who got Switzerland to the 1994 World Cup but was less successful in charge of club teams Inter Milan and Blackburn Rovers. The highly respected Wenger and Eriksson, a Swede with a perfect command of English and knowledge of the game world wide, stood out as the most popular choices ahead of Hodgson, currently at Denmark's FC Copenhagen, even though the Englishman appeared to be more likely to get a release from his club. Although England's top club sides are now coached by foreigners, it would be the first time that one has been chosen to lead the national side. England needs a big name to take charge because of its poor record in major championships. Bobby Robson, who took England to the World Cup semifinal in 1990, was asked to come back at age 67 to take temporary charge but his present club, Newcastle United, wouldn't let him. Several coaches and players called for the return of Terry Venables, who led England to the Euro '96 semifinal. But the FA declined to offer him a further contract, worried that Venables' outside business interests, which had led to litigation, were too distracting. Since England won the World Cup in 1966 under Alf Ramsey -- its only triumph in a major championship -- the national team had made those two semifinal appearances but done little else. Managers such as Don Revie, Ron Greenwood, Robson, Gaham Taylor, Venables Glenn Hoddle and Keegan came and went and failed to win any silverware. At this summer's European Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands, England went out in the first round, beaten by Portugal and Romania although it managed a rare victory over the Germans. The appointment of someone of Eriksson's quality would restore pride to an ailing team both at player and fan level. The F.A. said the new man will work alongside younger English coaches. "We are continuing to build a team of young English coaches, all with real potential, to work with the new senior England coach," he said. "Our aim is to get the best available team of coaches to give the England players the greatest chance of success in international competition. That's what the supporters want and what the country wants. We are determined to achieve that objective."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
