The man who led English football out of the dark ages

ERIKSSON PROVED HIS CLASS TIME AFTER TIME

- MIKE WALTERS

LOUNGING by the pool at 10am, Didi Hamann was taken aback to see Sven-Goran Eriksson approaching with a bottle of champagne and two glasses on a silver tray.

Manchester City were on an end-of-season tour after signing off the 2007-08 campaign with an 8-1 defeat at Middlesbrough in the Premier League and Eriksson knew his days at the club were numbered after they finished ninth.

When German midfielder Hamann asked what they were supposed to to be celebrating, Sven broke into that disarming smile and announced: "Life, Kaiser. We are celebrating... life."

If bubbles at 10am was a classy gesture by a man awaiting his summons to the meet the firing squad, it was in keeping with his charm.

Even when it came to an end as he led England to three quarter-finals at successive major tournaments, the Three Lions' first nonEnglish manager accepted his fate with remarkable equanimity.

Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died yesterday aged 76 after a long illness, may not have been the greatest England coach since Sir Alf Ramsey, but he was the most dignified.