Joleon Lescott knows the history opportunity that revamped Club World Cup will give players

Former Manchester City star Joleon Lescott has suited up for a number of major tournaments over the course of his professional soccer career, so it was easy for him to imagine what his former squad was feeling — along with the rest of the 32-team field — as they prepared for the Club World Cup.“You can’t not be excited,” Lescott told The Post.“It’s an opportunity to make history, be the first team to win it.

There’s a lot of talk about many games and overloads and stuff, but any athlete will tell you that once you start playing, the competitive spirit once you cross the white line will shine.They’ll all be trying to win.

It is an opportunity to create history.”Lescott was in lower Manhattan this week as part of an event put on by Manchester City called “Flavors of the City” ahead of the start 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 ...