BRITAIN: England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, hailed a hero for restoring England's football fortunes, was getting a crash course in the downside of fame yesterday with his private life splashed all over the papers.
After the frenzy of concern over David Beckham's injured left foot, it is now the Swede's turn to savour the experience of the British press going full tilt at a story combining the twin tabloid passions of sex and soccer.
Reports of his burgeoning relationship with a fellow Swede, London-based TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, ranged from the lurid to the fearful.
"Nanny caught Sven at it with Ulrika," trumpeted the News of the World. "She walked in as they romped naked in bed." Other newspapers feared for Eriksson's future as England's team boss, seeing the words of his Italian partner Nancy Dell'Olio - that they will decide after the World Cup finals whether to stay in England - as a sign they might go.
That would be disastrous for England who Eriksson, in little over a year in his job, has turned from dull also-rans to outside contenders at the finals in Japan and South Korea in June.
Neither of the two main players gave much away yesterday to the journalists and photographers breathlessly following their every move.
Asked by reporters piled outside his home if he had any comments, Eriksson (53), said via his intercom: "Nothing. Bye bye." Ms Jonsson (34), also said nothing as she briefly left her home. She found time on Saturday to see Manchester United defeat Chelsea, a match also watched - although in a different part of the stadium - by Eriksson.
The only person to have said much at all is Ms Dell'Olio (37), also through the intercom of the flat she shares with Eriksson.Asked if she and Eriksson were still together, she replied: "I think it's a really stupid question.
"Definitely, yes, more than ever, but I've nothing to say. The facts are much much clearer." The alleged relationship with Jonsson "doesn't mean anything," she added. Asked on Saturday if Eriksson might considering resigning because of intrusion into their private life, she replied: "Everything we do, we do together. We are going to decide after the World Cup."
The Football Association is standing by him, according to the Mail on Sunday which cited FA sources saying he had worked "terrifically hard" and done a "fantastic job". Even before Eriksson took the job, he had worried that his private life would come under close scrutiny.
And so it has proved, with even Mr Blair's press chief, Mr Alastair Campbell, saying he had introduced the pair at a party late last year. "I said to her, 'Here's another Swede for you to talk to'," the former Daily Mirror journalist told the paper. - (AFP)