Sven-Goran Eriksson confessed that the Anfield faithful’s rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone before Saturday’s legends match moved him to tears. Ajax.
The former England boss was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year and revealed he had, at best, little more than 12 months to live.
Eriksson’s nomadic managerial career saw him coach all over the globe, but until this afternoon he had never fulfilled the lifelong ambition to coach the club he supported as a youngster at their famous home.
Leading a team captained by his former England charge Steven Gerrard, a clearly emotional Eriksson walked onto the pitch before kick-off to take in the adulation of a near capacity crowd.
The cheers soon gave way to the familiar refrain of Liverpool’s iconic anthem which was belted out with the usual passion despite the non-competitive nature of the occasion.
Things, initially, didn’t go to plan for Eriksson whose side, which contained the likes of Fernando Torres and Sami Hyypia, trailed Ajax 2-0 at half-time.
A few tactical changes at halftime sparked a classic Anfield comeback with the home side eventually winning 4-2 with Fernando Torres scoring.
‘Everybody was a winner today, it was beautiful, absolutely incredible,’ said Eriksson afterwards. ‘Everything from You’ll Never Walk Alone to the rest of the match.
‘We were down 2-0 and won 4-2. We were the better team so it was a fair result. But this was fantastic.. Crying (yes there was tears).’
‘I think we were the better team in the first half you always worry when you lose but extremely good second half. The big winners are all around us.’
Gerrard, meanwhile, revealed Eriksson had been crucial to instigating the second half turnaround with some typically shrewd tactical advice.
He said: ‘He made a lot of changes at half time and gave us extra width, we kept trying to force through the middle. He’s still got the magic.
‘It’s always been fantastic when this crowd get going. They’re building the capacity now and they hepled us turn the game around.
‘It’s all for a good cause and there will be a lot of money raised. Sven being here was special, as soon as I knew he was going to be the gaffer I couldn’t wait to come and play for him one more time.’
