Sven-Goran Eriksson is adamant that his England side were the best national team in the world, but his biggest regret of his tenure is not what you might expect.
Eriksson spent five years as England manager between 2001 and 2006, but despite taking the Three Lions to three major tournaments he was not able to end their trophy drought.
The Swede is fondly remembered by England fans and supporters of the clubs he managed, so there was a huge outpouring of support last month when he announced that he may only have one more year to live after developing terminal cancer.
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After admitting that he supported Liverpool growing up and regretted never managing them, the club invited him to join the management staff for next month’s legends game against Ajax at Anfield.
Another regret the 76-year-old won't be so easy to remedy.
Eriksson previously told The Times that his England side were the best team at the 2006 World Cup, a tournament the Three Lions exited at the quarter-final stage on penalties to Portugal.
Failing to win the tournament with Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard in his squad is not his biggest regret though.
"My biggest regret is not taking a mental coach [to Germany] but I was very confident and convinced [England would win]." he said.
"I remember Roberto Mancini phoned me, he said, 'Sven, I’m putting my money on England' and I told him, 'You are right'.
"I couldn’t - still can't - see any team better than England in that World Cup.
"We were unlucky with Rooney [being sent off against Portugal] but in my time the pressure was too high. The expectation when you went to those tournaments - you win and if you don't win it’s sh*t.
"And too much talk about the Golden Generation. They were good but other teams had good players too. That, and penalties, was England’s problem."
Topics: Sven-Goran Eriksson, England, Football World Cup
Alex Brotherton