Sven is very brave...this is such a hard time for him

PAL REVEALS THE FAILING HEALTH OF EX ENGLAND COACH

- MARK JEFFERIES and PETER DYKE

SVEN-GORAN Eriksson is now too ill to walk at the lake that he adores so much.

In the new film about his life, the former England manager is shown on a day out with his family at Lake Fryken near his Swedish home, saying he feels at peace there.

He added: "I always thought it's a great place to sleep.

"The ashes could be thrown into the water here."

Sadly Sven, 76, has been struggling even more with his health in recent weeks and now does not have the energy to return. The next time he is there, it could be when his own ashes are scattered.

His close friend and lawyer Anders Runebjer told us: "I've seen Sven and how do I feel? I feel sad but I am happy to have known Sven and know that I can still see him. This is my reaction. He is such a tremendous person."

TREATMENT

He added: "Lake Fryken is beautiful. It is 90 kilometres long from south to north and it is a beautiful landscape. You can see that in the pictures. You can definitely fish in that lake too.

"But sadly his condition does not allow Sven to do that anymore. It is a hard time for him."

In the documentary, which was released on Friday, Sven spoke of discovering his pancreatic cancer after he had five strokes at home.

Initially he was able to receive treatment to help buy him more time, but time is running out.

Sven said on the film: "Life is not 100%. I've had injections for many months, now they [doctors] change to taking pills."

Asked what it has been like to see his friend get treatment and fight cancer, Anders added: "He is very brave. He really is."

He declined to give further details on his situation, although Sven was too ill to fly to London last week when his daughter Lina revealed that he was now "deteriorating quite quickly".

Sven is spending his final days with his family and doing the thing he still loves perhaps most of all, watching football.