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Greg Evans
Jun 09, 2021
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson left Sky News viewers in stitches on Tuesday after an interview with Kay Burley kept getting interrupted by ex-Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik.
The Swede who managed England between 2001 and 2006 was speaking to Kay Burley ahead of the Three Lions’ first game of Euro 2020 against Croatia on Sunday.
However, when explaining to Burley about trying to learn English, Eriksson found himself consistently receiving phone calls from Opik, whose face kept flashing up on the screen during the video call
The bizarre moment understandably left viewers in fits of laughter.
An interview with Sven Goran-Eriksson on @SkyNews keeps getting interrupted with a picture of Lempit Opik trying to… https://t.co/IgxX8Flz6W— Scott Bryan (@Scott Bryan) 1623143846
Sven Goran-Eriksson is being interviewed on Sky News and Lembit Opik keeps crashes the interview by trying to ring… https://t.co/QnefMvyxCm— Matthew (@Matthew) 1623142179
I wonder what Sven Goran Eriksson and Lembit Opik talk about? I'd like to imagine they're in some kind of "Peak 200… https://t.co/xtwKPasH9U— Nick Walker (@Nick Walker) 1623143169
I can't believe this is real https://t.co/8t9wVfZac5 https://t.co/r3VlPQ0VtG— Patrick Maguire (@Patrick Maguire) 1623142618
That thing when you're trying to tell Sky News about being England manager between 2000 and 2006 but Lembit Öpik ke… https://t.co/tu8GVWQCm6— Alex Partridge (@Alex Partridge) 1623143107
Eriksson didn’t seem to let this little distraction get to him but Burley did have an amusing way of wrapping up the interview.
Also the way @KayBurley wrapped the interview. Hilarious. (Apols for typo above: it is of course Lembit) https://t.co/0dP0Kvt8Du— Scott Bryan (@Scott Bryan) 1623144674
However, the plot thickens as some believe that Opik was actually calling Sky and not Eriksson.
I think it's Sky that Lembit is calling rather than Sven - if someone calls me whilst I'm on a Facetime call to you… https://t.co/8lTQZt4J5S— Adrian Bradley (@Adrian Bradley) 1623144440
My guess is what we’re seeing is the Sky News control room FaceTime account on a call with Sven - and it is Lembit calling Sky.— James O'Malley (@James O'Malley) 1623143661
Things got stranger when talkSPORT presenter Jake Watson claimed that Opik’s picture appeared when he had a Zoom call with Eriksson on the same day.
Just had Sven Goran Eriksson on TalkSPORT 2 talking about England... Only, I think the company who has set up his Z… https://t.co/4iqOVKN9bW— Jake Watson 🎙 (@Jake Watson 🎙) 1623140150
It would turn out that Opik was trying to call Eriksson though.
Statement from Lembit Öpik https://t.co/7QZ87yY5cd— Patrick Maguire (@Patrick Maguire) 1623162460
In a statement given to the Daily Mail, Opik said he had become friends with Eriksson while the Swede was managing Leicester City and Opik was still the MP for Montgomeryshire, Wales.
He added: “It would be embarrassing to admit if I had meant to call him while he was on TV. Suffice it to say, I don’t always check who’s on TV before I call them.”
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