Antonio Conte has revealed he made a trip to Buckingham Palace on Friday to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen passed away aged 96 on Thursday evening, with football across the United Kingdom being postponed over the weekend as a mark of respect.
In this unexpected downtime Conte told the press that he went to Buckingham Palace as a ‘normal person’ in order to give condolences: “What happened in the last few days in England is something extraordinary. Unfortunately, the Queen died. Honestly, on Thursday, we were all sad because we are talking about a person that her service for this country was outstanding.
“I think that in this moment there is big sadness in the country for this and [I was] living this atmosphere in London.
“And on Friday I went to Buckingham Palace like a normal person. I did it with a hat to live this situation because I think for sure we will remember this for the rest of our lives. I want to give condolences from me, from the club, from the players to the royal family.
“Then football has to go ahead and we will do it, but I think the Premier League made an important decision to stop football and show respect for the death of the Queen.”
When asked about the rescheduling of games and trying to fit them into an already packed football calendar, the Tottenham manager replied that the weekend’s postponements have actually proved to be beneficial for his side:
“You know that this season will be very difficult for the World Cup, because we know very well that we are prepared to play every two to three days. This is not simple. Honestly our schedule in the last month was really really difficult.
“For sure the game that the Premier League decided to postpone helped us a bit to recover and then to face the last two games before the international break with more energy. It has given me the possibility to make the best rotation and pick the best starting XI for this game and then for the next game against Leicester on Saturday because we are going to play that match which is a good decision.
“For sure the schedule, to find time and space to recover these type of games would be very, very difficult.”