About Me
Born in Torsby, I had an unremarkable playing career in the lower divisions of Swedish football at KB Karlskoga and Degerfors IF, before being forced to retire prematurely due to a knee injury in 1975. After retirement, I became first a coach, and then manager of Degerfors, taking the side from the Third Division to the First Division in three years.My success with Degerfors attracted the attention of much larger clubs, and I joined IFK Göteborg in 1979. I won the Swedish Cup in My first season, and a "treble" of League, Cup and UEFA Cup (Göteborg beating Hamburger SV 4-0) in 1982.My European success led to me being head-hunted by Portuguese club SL Benfica, and I had a similarly quick impact there, Benfica winning the Portuguese Championship and finishing runners-up in the UEFA Cup. After a second Championship the following year, I moved on to Italy, becoming boss of AS Roma. I was not as immediately successful at Roma as I had been before, but I still won a Coppa Italia in 1986.After a trophyless two years at Fiorentina, I moved back to Benfica for a second stint in 1989, where I led the team to the final of the European Cup (losing to AC Milan 1-0) in 1990, and another League title in 1991. In 1992 I returned to Italy to try my luck again, with Sampdoria, but I only managed another Coppa Italia in 1994.I finally found major success in Italy when I joined Lazio in 1997 .With Lazio I won the Coppa Italia twice (1998 and 2000), the European Cup Winners' Cup (1999 - the very last tournament), and the Serie A title (the Scudetto) in 2000 only the second time that the Roman club had won the Italian championship in their history.Following the resignation of England manager Kevin Keegan after a home loss to Germany in October 2000, the Football Association specifically pursued me as his replacement. I agreed to take over after my contract with Lazio ended in summer 2001, although I resigned early and joined in January of that year. I was the first foreigner to be appointed coach of the England national team.I turned round England's bid for qualification for the 2002 World Cup, with several crucial wins over lesser opposition before my first real test, England's rematch with Germany in Munich on September 1, 2001. I passed it with flying colours - England crushing their long-time rivals 5-1. Despite this England still needed a late equaliser at home to Greece to automatically qualify, and England's initially strong performance in the 2002 World Cup (when in a group stage with Nigeria, Argentina and Sweden) finals culminated in a distinctly flaccid 2-1 quarter finals loss to Brazil, the eventual winners.England have been drawn in Group B of the 2006 World Cup and will play matches against Sweden, Paraguay, and Trinidad & Tobago. My final challenge as England manager will be to progress to the knockout stages and then attempt to win the trophy for the first time since 1966.
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