Sven's final whistle

Beckham joins Eriksson family & friends at funeral | Music, laughs, carnival.. the celebration he wanted

- PATRICK HILL

THEY came together in joyous celebration of a life well lived at the tiny Swedish village where it all began 76 years ago.

And David Beckham paid a touching tribute to his former boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, laying his hand on his coffin. The former Three Lions captain shed a tear as he joined more than 1,000 mourners for the funeral at Torsby, where Sven grew up - to become a true gent of football.

But while any farewell is sad, this was full of happy memories, music and a carnival-style procession, as Sven had planned it.

Becks, 49, was joined by Sven's children Lina, 37, and Johan, 45, his dad, also Sven, 95, long-term partner Yaniseth Alcides, 54, and former girlfriend Nancy Dell'Olio, 63. Former England manager Roy Hodgson was also in the congregation at the neo-gothic style Fryksande church. Italian Nancy broke down as she told fellow mourners: "He will always be with me. He will always be a part of me."

The service was led by priest Ingela Alvskog.

As hundreds of others watched on screens outside, she set the celebratory tone by singing a poem and sparking laughter when she told how Sven began wearing suits in his teens and skipped homework to read detective novels.