5 November 2001 - Manager Of The Year Would've Made Sense, But Personality?

On 5 November 2001, new England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson was named Swedish football's Personality of the Year, beating joint Swedish national team managers Tommy Söderberg and Lars Lagerbäck.

The award was an acknowledgement of Eriksson's job improving the fortunes of England's World Cup qualification campaign. Prior to his appointment in January 2001, the Three Lions had gotten off to a rough start with a loss to Germany and a scoreless draw with Finland. Under Eriksson, England rattled off five straight wins, including a dominating 5-1 win over Germany in Munich.

A 1-1 home draw with Greece secured their qualification on 6 October, thanks to a 93rd-minute equalizer from David Beckham. Eriksson duly thanked Beckham when accepting the Personality of the Year award at the Swedish Football Gala in Stockholm and also thanked Tord Grip, his assistant at Lazio and England.

After quarterfinal exits in the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004, and the 2006 World Cup, the FA replaced Ericsson with his assistant, Steve McClaren. Eriksson moved on to manage Manchester City (2007-08), Mexico (2008-09), Côte d'Ivoire (2010), and Leicester City (2010-11).

22 September 2007 - City Sends Schmeichel Mixed Messages

On 22 September 2007, fresh off a string off seven successful appearances, 20-year old Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel signed a new 4-year deal worth a reported £18,000 per week. And played for the club only three more times.

Schmeichel, the son of Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel, signed his first professional contract with City in 2004, but spent the majority of the first few years of his contract on loan. But injuries to keepers Andreas Isaakson and Joe Hart before the start of the 2007-08 season pushed Schmeichel to the forefront.

He started City's first seven matches of the season, earning a record of four wins, one draw, and two away losses (both by the narrow score of 1-0) and getting his new deal as a reward. But, in the meantime, Joe Hart returned to fitness and manager Sven-Göran Eriksson chose him for City's next match, a 3-1 victory over Newcastle.

Hart became the permanent starter, relegating Schmeichel to the bench. He spent portions of the season on loan with Cardiff City, then Coventry City, before returning to Manchester for 2008-09. But he was still stuck behind Hart and made only three appearances for City that season, one as a substitute.

In August 2009, he joined Notts County, managed at the time by Eriksson, and then joined Leeds United in May 2010. In June 2011, Schmeichel rejoined Eriksson, this time at Leicester City, his current club.

22 July 2009 - The Prodigal Son Returns, Then Leaves Again

On 22 July 2009, Notts County introduced Sven-Göran Eriksson as their new director of football. It marked a return to England for the Swede, who had previously managed the English national team and Manchester City, but it did not last long.

Eriksson, who had enjoyed success as a manager in Sweden, Portugal, and Italy before taking the England job in 2001, had just finished a disappointing 8-month stint in charge of Mexico's national team, promised big things for Notts County, then in League Two. According to Eriksson, the club's new owners, a Middle Eastern finance consortium, were determined to send Notts County to the Premier League. They demonstrated their commitment by signing a couple of high-profile players in Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and Portsmouth center back Sol Campbell.

But although Eriksson signed a 5-year deal with Notts County worth a reported £2 million per year, the situation darkened quickly. Campbell left the club in September after making only one appearance. In November 2009, an unpaid tax bill prompted the Football League to open an investigation into the club's new ownership structure, resulting in the new owners selling the club that December. Then, in February 2010, Eriksson resigned. (It wasn't all bad for County, though, who went on to win promotion to League 1 for the 2010-11 season.)

Eriksson moved on to manage the Côte d'Ivoire national team in the 2010 World Cup, then returned to England once more in October 2010 as manager of Leicester City.

9 January 2001 - Eriksson's Early Arrivederci

On 9 January 2001, the 101st anniversary of Lazio's founding, manager Sven-Göran Eriksson gave the club a surprise present--his resignation.

Arriving in Rome from Serie A rival Sampdoria in 1997, the Swede quickly established himself as one of Lazio's most successful managers by winning the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana in 1998, while taking the club to that season's UEFA Cup Final. Although Lazio lost the final to Inter, Eriksson delivered European glory the following season, winning both the 1999 Cup Winner's Cup and 1999 UEFA Super Cup and finishing as runners-up to Milan in Serie A.

In the 1999-2000 season, Eriksson again brought success, delivering Lazio's second-ever Serie A title as part of a domestic treble that included repeat victories in the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.

In October 2000, England approached Eriksson to replace departing national team manager Kevin Keegan. He agreed, on the condition he could make the switch at the end of the season. But that January, he decided not to wait any longer. He resigned from Lazio on the 9th and that month became the first-ever foreign manager of England.

1 June 2008 - England's Eight-Minute Man

On 1 June 2008, 26-year old Blackburn Rovers left back Stephen Warnock made his first international appearance in England's 0-3 friendly win over Trinidad and Tobago at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. To date, it remains his only cap and it lasted all of eight minutes, tying him with two other players for the shortest career of any English international.

Warnock was first called up for the national team by Sven-Göran Eriksson in 2005 while at Liverpool, but he never got off the bench. In 2008, new manager Fabio Capello named him to the squad for friendlies against the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. He finally took the pitch in the latter match, replacing Wayne Bridge in the 84th minute with England already up 0-3. There were two minutes of added time, raising his total time on the pitch to 8 minutes.

Two other players ended their international career for England at 8 minutes - West Ham's Jimmy Barrett, who came off injured in his one cap in 1928, and Brighton and Hove Albion's Peter Ward, who played the last 8 minutes of a 1980 match against Australia.

Warnock, who currently plays for Aston Villa, has a chance to separate himself from Barrett and Ward, as Capello named him to the 30-man provisional squad for the 2010 World Cup. Capello has to trim the side to the final 23 players today.

11 February 2009 - Dos Y Cero, Número Tres

On 11 February 2009, the United States defeated Mexico at Crew Stadium in Colombus Ohio. It was the Yanks' third straight 2-0 win over their North American rivals, prompting cheers of "dos y cero" among the American supporters in the crowd of 23,776.

It was the opening match for CONCACAF's fourth and final 2010 World Cup qualifying round, also known as "the hexagonal," which includes the three group winners and runners-up from the previous round. The United States easily won their third-round group, while Mexico squeaked into the fourth round as their group runner-up, tied on points but with a better goal differential than group third-place finisher Jamaica.

After some tentative play by both sides, the United States took a late first-half lead when Mexico keeper Oswaldo Sánchez parried a header into the path of US midfielder Michael Bradley, who tucked it away from 6 yards out. Play heated up in the second half, with Mexican captain Rafael Márquez getting sent off in the 65th minute for a high kick on American keeper Tim Howard.

With El Tri down to 10 men and struggling, the US dominated the remainder of the match. They eventually capped their victory with another goal from Bradley, who, in the second minute of stoppage time, fired a 28-yard shot under the arms of Sánchez to complete his brace.

The loss helped seal the fate of Mexico coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, who was sacked in April 2009 after less than a year in charge. Under new coach Javier Aguirre, Mexico succesfully qualified for the World Cup in second place of the CONCACAF table, one point behind the US.

6 October 2001 - Beckham Bends It

On 6 October 2001, England midfielder and captain David Beckham converted a spectacular free kick in the last minute of stoppage time to equalize with Greece 2-2 in a World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.

England went into the match needing a win or a draw in order to ensure automatic qualification for the 2002 World Cup Finals. The Greek side disrupted those plans with a 36th-minute strike from forward Angelos Charisteas to go up 0-1.

Still down in the 67th minute, England manager Sven Göran Eriksson subbed striker Robbie Fowler out in favor of striker Teddy Sheringham. Sheringham quickly rewarded Eriksson's faith, heading in an equalizer within ten seconds of stepping foot on the pitch--the fastest goal ever by an England substitute. England's euphoria did not last long, however, as in the 69th minute, Greek striker Demis Nikolaidis evaded defender Rio Ferdinand and fired the Greeks back into the lead.

England continued to trail, when, in the 93rd minute, they were awarded a free kick from about 30 yards out in the center of the pitch. Beckham, who had already taken five unsuccessful long-range free kicks in the match, stepped up and delivered a powerful bending right-foot shot into the top left corner of the goal.

The whistle blew shortly afterward, with England claiming the 2-2 draw and automatic qualification for the 2002 World Cup. It was a watershed moment for Beckham, who had previously been hounded by the British press and supporters for his red-card performance in England's loss to Argentina in the knockout stages of the previous World Cup. The goal against Greece, as well as Beckham's overall inspired play and leadership, transformed him from national villain to national hero.