Former Manchester City standout Joleon Lescott has participated in several significant tournaments during his professional soccer career, so he could easily relate to what his old team was experiencing — along with the entire 32-team field — as they got ready for the Club World Cup.
“You can’t not be excited,” Lescott conveyed to The Post. “It’s a chance to make history, to be the first team to win it. There’s a lot of discussion about having many games and experiencing overload, but any athlete will tell you that once you begin playing, the competitive spirit shines through once you cross the white line. They’ll all be striving for victory. It’s an opportunity to create history.”
Lescott was in lower Manhattan this week as part of a Manchester City event called “Flavors of the City” ahead of the kickoff of the expanded Club World Cup.
The Premier League powerhouse is among the notable names participating in the revamped tournament that will hand out $125 million of the $1 billion total prize pot to the winner.
Prior to this year, the Club World Cup was played annually on a much smaller scale in December.
The new format expanded the number of teams and moved it to June, during the typical offseason for European teams, while creating a much grander event on the soccer calendar.
“For the player’s perspective, they’ll be excited. Preseason isn’t far away and there’s games you have to play in preseason, so if you could, if you can play them in a competitive way, in a competitive spirit, it’s only going to add, to build in,” Lescott said. “There’s an opportunity for new players as well. I think it was a good idea that FIFA opened the [exceptional registration] window before the tournament, so it gives players an opportunity to shine. Regardless of what the situation is, if you are a new player at a new team, you’re going to want to impress. You’re going to be judged, so there’s an opportunity to impress your fans.”
The tournament will also be a small taste of what’s to come for next year’s World Cup, as well as a showcase for the sport in the United States, which has seen a growth in popularity in soccer over the years, though it still largely trails the impact it has in other parts of the world.
FIFA has pulled out all the stops to draw in American sports fans during the Club World Cup and broadcast partner DAZN, which will carry every match during the tournament, is streaming every game for free.
Lescott, who appeared in 26 matches for the England national team from 2007-2013 and played in 107 games from 2009-2014 for Man City, which included playing for the Premier League title team in 2012, noted the growth he’s seen from American soccer and its fans.
“I think it’s obviously as popular as it’s been,” he explained. “The speed of that growth will never be enough for anyone…but as long as there’s more people playing, more people talking about it and enjoying the sport and understanding it as well. I think at times earlier, the soccer world in America, there wasn’t an appreciation for the defending side of the game, draws. Nil-nils probably wasn’t respected because in most of the sports here there’s a winner and a loser.”
He added: “I think the understanding of [the game] has grown, which is obviously better for everyone as well.”
Manchester City will play its first match of the tournament on Wednesday when it faces Morocco’s Wydad AC at Lincoln Financial Field.
