Antonio Conte admitted he will have an ‘unwanted’ sabbatical year after leaving Inter and spoke about the ‘horrible moments’ when Christian Eriksen collapsed mid-game at the Euros.
Conte helped the Nerazzurri pick up their first Scudetto in 11 years, but the former Juventus coach decided to leave when the plans changed after the COVID-19 crisis.
Inter are planning to cut costs and Conte left the club by mutual consent when he learned about the changes at Pinetina.
The Beneamata has replaced him with Simone Inzaghi, but Conte cannot sign for another Serie A club in the next season.
“It will be a year in which I will try to study and continue to investigate certain situations,” Conte told Radio Anch’io Sport.
“I want to make the most of this unwanted situation. But that’s OK, I’ll take advantage of the period to be with my family and to watch football, which always evolves and goes on.”
The former Nerazzurri coach spoke about the incident when his former player Eriksen collapsed mid-game against Finland at Euro 2020.
Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest and was given CPR on the pitch, before he was carried off and transferred to hospital.
“Those were horrible moments that I lived alone,” Conte said. “In the world of football, seeing such a situation makes you feel bad.
“I had the chance to live in close contact with Christian and seeing him [collapse] with open eyes made me feel bad, it really hit me.
“I’m happy that is has been resolved, that’s the most important thing. I thank all the teammates for what they have done and for the composure they had.
“We must be prepared and whoever intervened were. I wish Christian to stay calm, with the family, then there will be time for other evaluations. Football comes later.”