Lazio's Eriksson 'to be England football coach'

Lazion's Sinisa Mihajlovic in action. His coach Sven-Goran Eriksson may be heading to England.

LONDON, England (PA) -- Top football coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has accepted the post of England manager, according to reports in Italy.

The Lazio coach has been one of the favourites to become Kevin Keegan's successor as England soccer coach.

The Italian news agency Ansa says the 52-year-old Swede has signed a contract which will begin on July 1 2001.

If his acceptance of the post is confirmed, Eriksson will be the first foreign national to become England manager.

He said last week he would honour his club contract, which runs until the end of the season. He guided the Rome giants to the Serie A title last term, but is known to be an admirer of English football.

Asked about the reports, he would only say: "I have no comment to make."

Eriksson, who nearly took over as Blackburn manager four years ago but eventually decided against taking up the job, has also coached Roma, Fiorentina, and Sampdoria, while he won the Swedish championship with IFK Gothenburg in 1981 and titles in Portugal with Benfica.

His assistant at Lazio, Tord Grip, claimed last week: "He (Eriksson) has said that he is very flattered by receiving this offer.

"But his contract with Lazio runs until the end of the season so he'll probably not move anywhere before that."

If Eriksson, who speaks excellent English, does take over in July next year, he will face a baptism of fire in his first competitive game as England manager -- they are away to Germany on September 1.

There remain two more qualifiers for World Cup 2002 in Korea and Japan after then; home matches against Albania four days later and finally against Greece on October 6, 2001.

England football coach, a job not even a donkey wants
October 13, 2000
England manager resigns after Germany defeat
October 8, 2000

Swedish football - in Swedish

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.