David Beckham has shared a heart-breaking tribute to Sven-Goran Eriksson on Instagram – featuring what appears to be his final meeting with the ex-England manager.
Becks’ social media post features a silent clip of him and the late Swede, 76, walking, talking and laughing at what appears to be Eriksson’s home in Sunne.
He issued the tribute after the football legend’s family announced his death earlier today following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The video did not have a date attached – but comes after Eriksson revealed earlier this year that Beckham had visited him with a personal chef and a crate of expensive wine drawn from significant years of the manager’s career.
Eriksson’s family were around the Swedish icon’s bed when he passed away earlier this morning – and the news has triggered a flood of tributes from across the footballing world and beyond.
Beckham’s post has been liked more than 250,000 times since it was posted earlier this afternoon.
In the caption, the former England midfielder said that he knew that the meeting with his former coach would likely be his last.
He wrote: ‘We laughed, we cried & we knew we were saying goodbye.
‘Sven thank you for always being the person you have always been , passionate , caring, calm & a true gentleman.
‘I will be forever grateful for you making me your captain but I will forever hold these last memories of this day with you and your family.
‘Thank you Sven and in your last words to me: “It will be ok”.’
It is not known when the video was filmed – but Eriksson revealed in June that Beckham had visited him after he announced in January that he had been given ‘at best’ a year to live.
During an interview with Radio Sweden’s P4 Varmland channel two months ago, the 76-year-old said Becks had visited him on his farm outside Sunne.
‘He came with six litres of wine from dates that were important to me,’ Eriksson had revealed.
‘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 brought wine from 1982, when Eriksson won the UEFA Cup with IFK Goteborg, and 2000, the year he won the Serie A title with Lazio.
He became England’s manager in 2001 – the first foreign manager of the team – and brought the team some much-needed tough love, adapting them into a more sophisticated and tactically refined outfit.
Eriksson added: ‘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.’
However, he had been praised for his inspiring and optimistic outlook on his diagnosis, in which he implored others to live life to the full.
Shortly after going public with his diagnosis, he revealed a lifelong dream to manage Liverpool – a goal he was able to fulfil in March when he coached the Liverpool Legends to a 4-2 win against Ajax Legends at Anfield.
Earlier this year, he told Beckham had been among those he had spoken to after making the news of his cancer public in a Swedish radio interview.
He said: ‘It’s been really crazy. The telephone phone hasn’t stopped ringing since the radio interview was broadcast, I’m surprised by all this support, I didn’t expect it all. I never imagined this sort of reaction.
‘To be honest the broadcast shouldn’t have gone out until Sunday but it did and that’s OK there is nothing I can do but I have had so many calls, all the time, it’s nice.
‘I’ve spoken with David Beckham, I won’t say what he said but it was very good of him to call. We speak every now and then, every few months and I also heard from (ex Man City boss) Roberto Mancini.
‘I’ve heard from people who were at the Football Association when I was there, Wayne Rooney’s agent sent me a message and then there were surprise calls from people I hadn’t heard from in years but it’s like that.’
In a Prime Video documentary issued days before he died, Sven had opened up about the highs and lows of his life – including how he was coping with the news he had been diagnosed with cancer.
He said: ‘It was a shock. It’s one of those which will not go away.
‘But you can slow them down hopefully. I have no pain but I know it’s there.
‘One day it will take you. Before that day, live instead of sitting down thinking about what and when it will happen.’
Eriksson’s children, Lina and Johan, said in a statement: ‘Our father Sven-Goran Eriksson fell asleep peacefully in his home at Björkefors outside Sunne this morning. He has for a long time fought bravely with his illness, but now it came to an end
‘Our thoughts go out to Sven-Goran’s father Sven; girlfriend Yaniseth and her son Alcides; to his brother Lasse and wife Jumnong, as well as to all good friends and acquaintances in Sweden and around the world.
‘Dad told us at the beginning of this year about his serious illness and received an amazing response from friends and football fans around Europe.
‘He was invited to several football teams in England, Italy, Portugal and Sweden. They shared their love for football and for dad. It was unforgettable for both him and us.
‘He expressed his appreciation and joy and stated that such beautiful words are usually only uttered when someone has died.’
They included a quote from Sven himself, in which he said: ‘I get to hear it while I’m alive and I’m incredibly grateful for that. The heart beats twice and the tears come.
‘I have had the best job in the world and I was happy every day for long periods. It’s been fantastic.’
Lina and Johan added: ‘We have shared his gratitude and got to experience the wonderful meetings between him, football and all his friends. We thank everyone for these positive memories and your support during his illness.
‘We hope that you will remember Svennis as the good and positive person he always was both in public and at home with us.’