The applause will fill stadiums across Europe to honour Sven-Göran Eriksson, marking a life well lived with a broad legacy in football, but for me a moment of silence 23 years ago will always resonate when England’s first overseas manager comes to mind.
You don’t normally associate football with quiet, but 1 September 2001 was not a normal occasion. Perhaps it wasn’t real, just all in my head. Rewatching on DVD, it’s just a low hum preceding the roar. But as Michael Owen closed in on Oliver Kahn, three minutes after half-time, the goalline he was approaching was separated from most of the visiting supporters by the length of the pitch and the curve of the Olympiastadion’s athletics track. Emile Heskey headed David Beckham’s cross down; Owen shot; Kahn dived; and we were suddenly thrust into a live version of A Question of Sport’s “What happened next?” round. Momentarily the world around me seemed to stand still, even if the recording suggests otherwise.
