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David Beckham gifts Sven-Göran Eriksson ‘six litres of wine’

25 June 2024 By Louis Thomas

The ex-England international gifted his former manager a number of bottles of wine from vintages marking milestones in his career.

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Sven-Göran Eriksson announced in January that he had terminal cancer and had a year to live.

To celebrate a footballing career, both as a player and manager of sides including Benfica, the England national team, and Lazio.

Speaking with Swedish radio station P4 Varmland over the weekend, Eriksson revealed the gesture made by Beckham, who played under him for England from 2001 to 2006.

“He came with six litres of wine from dates that were important to me,” Eriksson revealed. “He had wine from 1948 – the year I was born, very nice of him. He is genuine, he could have been a big diva, but he is quite the opposite.”

Other vintages included 1982, marking the year Eriksson when won the UEFA Cup managing IFK Goteborg, and 2000, the season his Lazio side won Serie A.

What has not been disclosed, however, was what the wines were. 1982 has been widely-praised as an exceptional year for Bordeaux, whereas 1948 was considered to be particularly good for Port. Though we might expect an Italian wine to be gifted to mark Eriksson’s victory in the Italian league, 2000 is a somewhat divisive region for the country’s wines, with the extreme weather conditions leading to mixed results.

Eriksson also shared that Beckham’s chef prepared some Swedish dishes: “He ate herring and potatoes and elk meat.”

“It confirms, in a way, how great he is. He didn’t have to come here. I felt proud that he came,” he added.

Beckham is turning out to be something of a fan of fine wine, as evidenced yesterday (24 June) when he gifted Lionel Messi a large format bottle of Catena Zapata for the Argentine superstar’s 37th birthday.