At age 70, and having experienced success in the track he has chosen, Sven-Göran Eriksson could have settled down in the countryside and happily retired. But instead, he headed to the southeast region of Asia to pick up a new challenge.
“It’s not easy to answer that question. When I got the question from the big boss, I thought why not? Why not do something different than what I’ve done before?” said Eriksson, as he was presented to the public on Monday afternoon.
The Swede has been to the World Cup with England and is a three-time league and cup champion in three different countries. Still, he remains hungry for more.
“Coming here, working for the two big tournaments, the Suzuki Cup and Asian Cup, that’s something, I said to myself that I wanted to do.”
Fortunately for Eriksson, he is set to reunite with Scott Cooper, the Azkals’ senior team adviser.
“I have Scott with me. He’s very important for the team and me,” he expressed. “He knows much more football to the Philippines than I do and that’s very important. I have experience in Football in Asia from Australia, from Korea, Japan, China.
“Of course, but I don’t have experience with football in this part in Asia.”
And the two plan to create magic with the rising Philippine Men’s National Football Team.
“He knows it all, he knows the players, the opponents, he knows everything. He’s very important and I’m sure we’ll work well together.”
