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 ring him and I am COMPLETELY LOSING IT pic.twitter.com/XNdcq6IFmK
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) June 8, 2021
Sven Goran-Eriksson is being interviewed on Sky News and Lembit Opik keeps crashes the interview by trying to ring him and his picture keeps flashing up on the screen. He’s tried ringing 5 times in the last 2 minutes.
— Matthew (@TorbsTalks) June 8, 2021
I wonder what Sven Goran Eriksson and Lembit Opik talk about? I'd like to imagine they're in some kind of "Peak 2000s" group chat with Abi Titmuss and Preston from the Ordinary Boys.
— Nick Walker (@nickw84) June 8, 2021
I can't believe this is real https://t.co/8t9wVfZac5 pic.twitter.com/r3VlPQ0VtG
— Patrick Maguire (@patrickkmaguire) June 8, 2021
That thing when you're trying to tell Sky News about being England manager between 2000 and 2006 but Lembit Öpik keeps calling you pic.twitter.com/UrHwJsaIhT
— Alex Partridge 🦁🦁🦁 (@alexpartridge87) June 8, 2021
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.
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) June 8, 2021
(Apols for typo above: it is of course Lembit) pic.twitter.com/0dP0Kvt8Du
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 you don't see who's calling me do you?
— Adrian Bradley (@adebradley) June 8, 2021
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 (@Psythor) June 8, 2021
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 Zoom chat for today has accidentally mistaken him for Lembit Opik 😅 pic.twitter.com/3cSGkE0W4R
— Jake Watson 🎙 (@JakeWatson_TV) June 8, 2021
It would turn out that Opik was trying to call Eriksson though.
Statement from Lembit Öpik pic.twitter.com/7QZ87yY5cd
— Patrick Maguire (@patrickkmaguire) June 8, 2021
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.”
