Ciao, Sven: Sampdoria’s Moving Tribute to the Great Swede

Watching Sampdoria’s celebrations after their Coppa Italia triumph in 1994 offers a valuable insight into Sven-Göran Eriksson.

The Swede is conspicuously absent from the trophy presentation, preferring to leave the spotlight to his players.

Only once the players hoist him aloft in front of the delirious Gradinata Sud does Eriksson, albeit reluctantly, allow himself to be swept away by the celebrations around him.

It is a story that feels relevant now, as calcio and European football mourn the loss of the 76-year-old, who died of pancreatic cancer on Monday.

A man defined by his calm, dignified demeanour as much by his football acumen, Eriksson would have undoubtedly approved of the understated tribute his former club paid him on Saturday.

“Ciao e grazie, Mister Sven”, was the succinct message on a banner unfurled ahead of the game against Bari at the Luigi Ferraris. 

Goodbye and thank you, Sven.

The banner slowly made its way from the halfway line towards the same Gradinata Sud where Eriksson had celebrated three decades ago.

A moving tribute to Sven

Here the Sampdoria ultras paid their own, beautifully raw, yet equally poignant homage, in the way only a packed football stand can.

“Sven-Göran Eriksson tra la la, Sven-Göran Eriksson tra la la la, Sven-Göran Eriksson tra la la la,” they chanted over and over again, tifo flags swaying rhythmically as the smoke of flares quickly filled the hot summer afternoon air.

Italy’s only British ground in terms of design and calcio‘s oldest ground still in use, the Ferraris is a special place. The proximity of the stands to the pitch makes for an intimate and raucous atmosphere, with both Gradinate – the English-style ends as opposed to the traditional curvas – engulfed in a sea of colours.

Only a few hours later, Lazio paid tribute to their former manager with an equally touching tribute ahead of their draw with AC Milan.

It speaks volumes for the Swede’s legacy at Sampdoria and Lazio, that he still elicits such devotion at both clubs.

But then, Eriksson always had a special relationship with the Blucerchiati and the Biancocelesti and remains hitherto the last manager to win a trophy with the former and to seal the Scudetto with the latter.

Sampdoria’s 1994 Coppa Italia triumph was the club’s sixth major trophy in a decade, a run which included three more Coppa Italia titles and, most famously, the Scudetto in 1991. It would also prove to be their last for the next three decades.

Why Eriksson almost never joined Samp

By the time Eriksson arrived in Genoa the following summer, financial pressure forced club chairman Paolo Mantovani into selling Gianluca Vialli to Juventus.

Mantovani candidly admitted Sampdoria could no longer compete with the likes of AC Milan and Juventus and offered Eriksson the chance to jump ship before he’d even got on board. 

“He had changed his mind about where the club could go after I had agreed to come,” the former England manager wrote in a piece for The Coaches’ Voice in 2020.

“Mantovani told me Sampdoria could no longer challenge Juve, Milan or Inter financially, and that he was about to sell Vialli to Juve. 

“But he told me that it wasn’t what we agreed, so if I wanted to leave, I could. But I admired his honesty, and so I accepted.”

Even without Vialli, Samp retained the kind of pulling power current mid-table Serie A clubs can only dream of.

Clarence Seedorf, Enrico Chiesa, Ruud Gullit, David Platt, Juan Sebastian Veron and Vladimir Jugovic all played under the Swede during his five years in charge at Marassi.

“We built good sides, with players like [Ruud] Gullit and [David] Platt, and we focused on young players, like [Clarence] Seedorf, [Enrico] Chiesa and [Juan Sebastian] Verón,” Eriksson reflected.

Good teams and good times have been few and far between since Eriksson’s era ended.

Over the last two decades, Sampdoria spent 19 seasons in Serie A but a run of 11 consecutive campaigns in the Italian top flight finally ended in 2023.

Andrea Pirlo’s quest to bring the Blucerchiati back to Serie A at the first time of asking ended in the play-offs against Palermo four months ago, and the former Juventus manager was sacked on Thursday after just one season.

Saturday’s goalless draw with Bari in Andrea Sottil’s first match in charge left Sampdoria third from bottom in Serie B with two points after four matches, above their Pugliese rivals – themselves a former Serie A side that’s fallen on hard times – on goal difference alone.

Eriksson’s glory days are long gone, but for one sunny afternoon their memory was as vivid as ever.