Two of the most famous Italian football personalities in the UK, Gianfranco Zola and Antonio Conte, paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on social media.
Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died at Balmoral aged 96, on Thursday. A minute of silence was held before European fixtures last night, and tributes have been pouring in from all over the world.
Among them are Conte and Zola, two of the best-known Italian football personalities in the UK.
Zola spent seven seasons at Chelsea between 1996 and 2003 and wrote that meeting the Queen in Rome was ‘one of the greatest privileges of my life.’ The former Italy striker also served as Maurizio Sarri’s assistant in 2018-19.
Zola posted two pictures of Queen Elizabeth II, including one of their meeting in Italy at the beginning of the 2000s.
Conte never played in England but was the Chelsea coach between 2016 and 2018 and was appointed as Tottenham boss less than a year ago.
The ex-Inter and Juventus coach used a famous Queen Elizabeth quote to pay his respect: “It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult.”
