A LEICESTER City legend who played for his country in the 2002 World Cup has given his backing to Leicester’s World Cup bid.
Muzzy Izzet – who earned eight caps for Turkey – is delighted that Leicester is bidding to be a host city for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
“When I was at the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, it was like a carnival. The atmosphere was incredible,” he said.
“It would be very positive for the city to have that, even if it was just one match.
“There would be so many people visiting that it would definitely be a great thing for Leicester.”
Although Muzzy retired from football in 2006, he still enjoys a game with his fellow Leicester City legends and he’s actively involved in getting young people to share his enthusiasm for the game. With fellow legend Steve Walsh, Muzzy now runs a soccer academy in the city, aiming to discover the young players who’ll be the stars of the Walkers Stadium in the future.
And Muzzy knows that the Walkers would make a great World Cup venue.
“The Walkers Stadium is a great ground and would definitely be up for it,” he said.
“It’s a fantastic stadium and there’s a real football community here. People really like their football and they would love this.”
Muzzy joins a growing list of celebrities who have come forward to give their support to Leicester’s bid.
Footballing legends Gary Lineker, Steve Walsh, Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton have all backed the bid, as well as snooker player Willie Thorne, rugby’s Jordan Crane, cricketer Munaf Patel and quintuple Olympic gold medallist rower Sir Steve Redgrave.
As well as the celebrities, more than 1,800 people have joined a Facebook group supporting Leicester’s bid.
The Leicester bid team is calling on everyone in the city and county to show their support by selecting Leicester as their preferred host city on the England 2018 Bid website.
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