London (dpa)
The English Football Association invited Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former national team coach, to attend as a special guest a friendly match against Belgium this month at Wembley Stadium. The British news agency PA Media reported that Eriksson revealed last January that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, indicating that he had only one year to live.
The 76-year-old coach may achieve his dream of leading the Liverpool team on March 23 in a friendly match for the team’s legends against the Dutch legends of Ajax, and a few days later he may be present at Wembley Stadium.
The English national team will face its Belgian counterpart on March 28, and Eriksson may attend the match if he is able to do so.
For his part, England national team coach Gareth Southgate said while announcing his team’s list for this month’s matches: “I also know that we invited Seven to attend one of the two matches.”
He added: “We do not know if it will come or not, but we hope it will happen.”
It is also scheduled to honor Terry Venables, who led the England national team to the semi-finals of the 1996 European Nations Cup, in the match between Brazil and Belgium.
Venables, the former Tottenham, Barcelona and England coach, died last November at the age of 80.
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