The glamorous Panamanian former exotic dancer who won over Sven-Goran Eriksson by dancing for him in
This is the Panamanian former exotic dancer who won over former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson by dancing for him in a Mexico City nightclub.
Yaniseth del Carmen Bravo Mendoza, who is 54, has been with the 75-year-old Swedish football legend for almost 16 years.
Their relationship has so far lasted almost as long as Sven was married to his first wife Ann-Christine Pettersson, and far longer than he spent with his famous ex-lovers Nancy Dell’Olio, Faria Alam and Ulrika Jonsson.
Friends said his devotion and affection for Yaniseth is second to none while his children from his first marriage, Johan and Lina, are said to be extremely ‘fond of her’ as she helped soften the blow of his shock cancer diagnosis.
Earlier this month the former Three Lions boss, who was the first foreigner to coach England when he took the job in 2001, revealed on Swedish radio that he is suffering from pancreatic cancer and possibly had less than a year to live.
On Monday a glamorous looking Yaniseth was pictured alongside Sven as he appeared at a Swedish sports award ceremony and was reduced to tears after a 90 second standing ovation.
Swedish football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson with his partner Yaniseth Alcides during the Sports Gala 2024 at Friends Arena Sweden Sports Gala
Yaniseth, who is 54, has been with the 75-year-old Swedish football legend for almost 16 years
Sven’s children are said to be extremely ‘fond’ of Yaniseth as she helped soften the blow of his shock cancer diagnosis
Sven presents the Newcomer of The Year award during Idrottsgalan 2024, the annual Swedish Sports Gala
Former players he coached including John Terry and Wayne Rooney made video tributes and were joined by current England boss Gareth Southgate who gave him his best wishes.
Sven described his partner as ‘my dear Yaniseth’ and added he was ‘delighted’ to be at the event with her and his daughter Lina.
In a brief interview with Swedish media, Yaniseth said: ‘It feels good to be by Sven’s side. There are so many people who come forward and say nice things.
‘Now I understand how big he is.’
When MailOnline visited Sven at his beautiful lakeside home at Sunne, four hours eats of Stockholm, earlier this month both Yaniseth and Lina were there fussing over him.
Multilingual Sven – who has coached in Portugal and Italy as well as Mexico and China – spoke to Yaniseth in a mixture of Spanish and Italian, as her English is still not perfect.
The couple met in 2008 when Sven was coaching the Mexican national team after quitting England where he had been coach for five years until 2006.
In his autobiography Sven, he described how he met her while he was having a drink with a friend in Mexico City.
He said:’ It was probably pretty late when we left the bar. Outside, two ladies came walking towards us and when one of them saw me, she burst out, ‘Dios ! Es El !’ Oh My God, It’s him.’
‘It was dark and the woman was wearing some kind of shawl . Her eyes and her white teeth glimmered in the moonlight.
‘I could tell she was very good looking, and she was very excited to see me for some reason.
Friends said Sven’s devotion and affection for Yaniseth is second to none
Sven presents the Newcomer of The Year award during Idrottsgalan 2024, the annual Swedish Sports Gala, at Friends Arena on January 22, 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden
‘She eagerly shook my hand and rattled off something in Spanish. I was speechless and not just because I could not understand what she was saying.’
He went on: ‘The woman said her name was Yaniseth and that she worked as a dancer a a restaurant and nightclub not far away.
‘She invited me to come and watch her when she danced.’
Sven described how he and friends went to watch Yaniseth perform and said:’ She was scantily clad and a real beauty.
‘When I came into the room, she saw me immediately and suddenly stopped dancing. She just stood there for a moment, before resuming her dancing.
‘We sat down at a table and watched the show. I bought a bottle of champagne and as soon as there was a break in the performance, I walked over to the table where Yaniseth and the other artists were sitting and asked if I could offer her a glass of champagne.’
He went on:’ She was excited to see me. She could not believe that Mister Eriksson had really come to see her perform,
‘We spoke in Spanish for maybe ten minutes before it was tie for her to get up on stage again. She gave me her telephone number and asked me to call her.’
Smooth Sven added:’ The next day I called Yaniseth and asked her over for dinner in my apartment. Pablo (homehelp) cooked the meal. Yaniseth was impressed.’
The following Christmas Yaniseth – who had a five-year old son at the time called Alcides – visited Sweden for the first time and stayed with him at his home for a family Christmas with his children.
Since then – despite coaching jobs in China and the Philippines – the couple have remained together and were only apart for the pandemic when travel restrictions meant they didn’t see each other for a year.
And she is expected to have pride of place sitting next to him later this month Sven and his 94-year-old father who is also called Sven celebrate their birthdays.
A few weeks ago the 75-year-old announced that he was afflicted by terminal cancer and may only have months left, declaring: ‘I have to fight as long as possible’.
Sven fears he has a year to live or at ‘worst a little less’ after the bombshell diagnosis last year.
He said earlier this month: ‘Everyone understands that I have an illness that is not good. Everyone guesses it’s cancer and it is. But I have to fight as long as I can’.
When asked what the prognosis is, he told Sweden’s P1 radio station that he has ‘maybe at best a year, at worst a little less, or at best maybe even longer. You can’t be absolutely sure. It is better not to think about it’.
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