Sven-Goran Eriksson: David Beckham came to my house with six litres of wine

Sven-Goran Eriksson, who recently revealed a terminal cancer diagnosis, has said David Beckham spent a day with him at his farm and brought along "six litres of wine."

The wine all came from vintages produced in years that held special meaning to Eriksson.

Eriksson went public in January with his terminal cancer diagnosis and admitted the "best case" scenario was that he had a year to live.

During an interview with Radio Sweden’s P4 Varmland channel over the weekend, the 76-year-old reflected on the visit from former England captain Beckham to his farm outside Sunne.

"He came with six litres of wine from dates that were important to me," Eriksson said.

"He had wine from 1948 – the year I was born, very nice of him. He is genuine, he could have been a big diva, but he is quite the opposite."

Beckham also had wine from 1982, the year Eriksson won the UEFA Cup with IFK Goteborg, and 2000, which was the season when he guided Lazio to the Serie A title.

Eriksson added: "He ate herring and potatoes and elk meat."

"The previous day he had sent a chef who fixed the food, and then he came and was here for a day, we sat chatting, a lot about football.

"It confirms, in a way, how great he is. He didn’t have to come here. I felt proud that he came."

Eriksson, who managed England for five years before leaving after the 2006 World Cup, stood down from his most recent role as sporting director at Swedish club Karlstad last year.

Despite a wealth of talent to call upon including Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, Eriksson presided over quarter-final exits at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups as well as at Euro 2004.

His intrepid career since leaving the England job has taken in stints at Manchester City and Leicester, as well as spells in charge of the Mexico, Ivory Coast and Philippines national teams.

In March he was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of managing Liverpool FC when he was given the opportunity to oversee the Liverpool Legends team against Ajax.

The Swede admitted he had shed tears both just before the match, when he received a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked out onto the pitch, before taking in You’ll Never Walk Alone with the players and coaching teams, and after when they walked around the pitch to more applause.

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