SaqEngland captain Harry Kane and interim manager Lee Carsley will be hoping to pay fitting tribute to Sven-Goran Eriksson when Wembley commemorates the former manager on Tuesday night.
The Nations League match against Finland is England’s first home game since the Swede died aged 76 on August 26 from pancreatic cancer.
England’s players wore black armbands in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland and will do so again at Wembley.
There will be a period of applause before kick-off, on an evening where the deaths of Craig Shakespeare, Kevin Campbell and Tommy Banks will also be acknowledged.
Of Eriksson, who coached England between 2001 and 2006, Kane said: “I think he’s one of our most famous and popular managers we’ve had in the national team.
“It will be a sad night for a lot of England fans and a lot of England players. We will pay him a great tribute which he fully deserves.”
“From what I understand, I haven’t met him personally, he’s just a great person, really, really loyal to his players and his job. I think he’ll be remembered as one of the best managers in England.”
“From our point of view, we simply wish all his family and friends our condolences, and we hope to be able to pay him a nice tribute tomorrow evening.”
Carsley echoed his captain’s sentiments after hearing a lot about Eriksson from his assistant Ashley Cole.
“I never had the chance to meet him,” he said. “I played against his teams a few times.
“Talking to Ashley, who played under him, what he talks about most is what a great person he was.
“Obviously he was a very decorated manager as well, and the time he had with England, with the generation of players he worked with, everyone talks about the atmosphere and how much they enjoyed playing for him.
“As Harry says, I hope we can pay him a nice tribute, and everyone will remember him fondly, I’m sure.”
Finland coach Markku Kanerva also wanted to end his press conference at Wembley by paying tribute to Eriksson.
“In a football match you can win or lose the match, but in life there can be big defeats,” he said.
“Sven-Goran Eriksson has passed away and we will honour his memory tomorrow. He was a great coach.”
Saq
