Sven-Goran Eriksson hails day as Liverpool Legends manager ‘a memory for life’ as he achieves lifelong dream… and reveals he ‘was crying’ during You’ll Never Walk Alone

Sven-Goran Eriksson has branded his day as Liverpool Legends manager ‘a memory for life’ after he achieved a life-long dream.

The former England manager stunned the world of football back in January when he announced that he had ‘about a year’ to live and was battling cancer.

He fulfilled his lifelong dream of managing Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, leading his side to a 4-2 win with the likes of Fernando Torres, Djibrial Cisse and Gregory Vignal on the score sheet.

The 76-year-old was all smiles as he took to the Anfield turf before the game, cameras surrounding him and the 60,000 fans in attendance clapped his arrival as he bowed his head in acknowledgement.

Following the game, Eriksson hailed the charity game and explained his pride in leading his team at Anfield.

Eriksson led the team to a 4-2 win over Ajax Legends in front of 60,000 fans at Anfield on Saturday afternoon

‘We were all the time the better team, I think, so it was a fair result,’ he told the Liverpool website. ‘But this  is fantastic.

‘I think we were the better team even in the first half, even if we were 2-0 down. You always worry when you lose but as I said, very good first half and extremely good second half. A good win, a fair win, but the big winners are everybody here.

‘I think the man of the match is the public, the crowd, but it was a good football game to look at. They can still play football. Very good.

‘They are not 20 years old anymore and it’s good football, extremely good football. It’s fantastic, they come from all over the place, all over Europe and he [Steven Gerrard] is coming from another part of the world to do this and it’s fantastic. A memory for life.’

Eriksson received a heartwarming reception when he walked out onto the pitch at Anfield before the game, standing arm-in-arm with Gerrard.

Fernando Torres scored for Liverpool and embraced the 76-year-old during the match

Eriksson sat alongside the likes of Isan Rush (third left) and John Barnes (right) in the dugout

Steven Gerrard (R) captained the Liverpool team, and Eriksson said the ex-midfielder still has it

Admitting he was in tears when You’ll Never Walk Alone rang around the ground, he helped turn the game around from 2-0 down to a 4-2 win.

He was embraced by a number of players throughout the game, and sat next to the likes of Ian Rush and John Barnes in the home dugout.

‘I think everybody was a winner today and it was beautiful, absolutely fantastic, incredible,’ he said. ‘Everything from You’ll Never Walk Alone and the rest of the match, and a good win – we were 2-0 down and won 4-2.

‘I was crying [at You’ll Never Walk Alone]. He [Gerrard] is the boss out there – of course [he still has it].’