Category: News
Majestic. Matchwinner. Maxime.
Is Maxime Lestienne currently the best player in the Singapore Premier League (SPL)?
According to Lion City Sailors Head Coach Risto Vidaković, the answer is a resounding “Yes”.
It would be hard to argue with Risto’s assessment, especially after the Belgian scored twice – both via free-kicks – to inspire the Sailors to a 2-1 comeback victory over Geylang International at Our Tampines Hub on Sunday (7 May) evening.
When asked about the 30-year-old’s match-winning display, Risto did not hold back in his praise, as he said: “There is no doubt in my mind that Maxime is the best player in the league. He’s a superstar, he has played at a higher level, and he shows in every game that he’s the main man on the pitch.
But Maxime and the Sailors were made to work hard for the three points, as Geylang gave as good as they got in front of the raucous home fans.
With the Sailors missing defenders Nur Adam Abdullah, Bill Mamadou and forward Abdul Rasaq Akeem due to their involvement in the ongoing Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Nathan Mao was handed a spot in the starting line-up, making him the youngest-ever player to start a SPL game at 15 years and 42 days old.
Nathan, who surpassed the previous record holder Raoul Suhaimi (15 years and 239 days old), is also only the second player below the age of 16 to start a SPL game.
Nathan’s big day, however, got off to a bad start as Geylang took the lead after just 10 minutes, with Iqbal Hussain calmly finishing off a clinical counter-attacking move.
The early goal seemed to take the wind out of the Sailors’ sails, and they found themselves pegged back by the Eagles for much of the first half.
This was when Zulqarnaen Suzliman rose to the occasion for the Sailors, as the marauding right-back put his body on the line to prevent Geylang from doubling their lead on at least three occasions.
“That was just defensive instinct,” said Zulqarnaen. “I always give my best for the team, and I’m happy that I contributed today by preventing the opposition from scoring.
As the clock ticked on, however, it was clear for all to see that the Sailors desperately needed a touch of inspiration to get back into the game against a resolute Geylang side.
And Maxime duly obliged.
When the Sailors were awarded a free-kick on the right edge of the Geylang penalty box in the 69th minute, everyone expected Maxime to send the ball into the box for someone to get his head on to.
Instead, the forward blindsided the Geylang defence, as well as goalkeeper Hafiz Ahmad, and curled the ball into the top corner with his left foot.
20 minutes later, Maxime struck again. This time, the Sailors were awarded a free-kick on the left edge of the Geylang penalty box – but while the position was different, the outcome was the same, as Maxime curled the ball into the top corner and left Hafiz grasping at air.
Even though the Sailors went down to 10 men in stoppage time following Rusyaidi Salime’s dismissal for an off-the-ball incident, Maxime’s late goal proved to be enough to secure all three points for his team.
“I work a lot on my free-kicks during training,” Maxime revealed. “I’ve taken quite a few already, and it doesn’t go in all the time, so I’m happy that it resulted in goals today. It was a strong game from Geylang, but we had a lot of chances which we should have converted. Thankfully, in the end we managed to score and get a good result.”
Zulqarnaen corroborated Maxime’s account, as he added: “He practices his free-kicks during training, and you can see the results of that today because it made the difference. His technique is incredible, but it also shows that you need to work hard because it will pay off.”
The win leaves the Sailors third in the table, just one point behind Tampines Rovers in second, and five points behind current league leaders and reigning champions Albirex Niigata (S).
The Sailors will next take on Brunei DPMM at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday (13 May).
It has been close to three weeks since the Lion City Sailors’ last Singapore Premier League (SPL) match – a dramatic 1-1 draw with the Young Lions, who scored a penalty in the last minute of stoppage time for a share of the spoils.
The frustration from dropping points, especially in that manner, is still evident in Risto Vidaković’s voice when he talks about that game.
“We dropped two points against the Young Lions, that was a game that we should have won,” said the Sailors Head Coach. “If we had won, we’d be three points off the top of the SPL table right now.
“Overall, I think we lost too many points in the first round of the SPL, and that (Young Lions) match was just one instance in which I think we should have done better.
“But we cannot think about that game anymore. We must forget it and look forward to the next round of the SPL, because the title race is still open.”
Risto is not wrong – with 16 points after the first eight SPL games, the Sailors currently find themselves third in the table, five points behind league leaders and reigning champions Albirex Niigata (S).
And they are only just getting started.
“I’ve always said that this team needs time before we can see its full potential. It’s natural that we’ve not hit the heights in the first part of the season because there are many new components at the club,” mused the Serbian.
“But I can see that the team is growing, it’s progressing well. There is a good atmosphere at the club, and everyone is working hard to improve, so I’m confident that the second round of the SPL will be better for us.
One of these “new components” is striker Bernie Ibini-Isei, who only signed for the Sailors barely a month ago.
Risto remained tight-lipped over whether the former A-League forward would feature in the Sailors’ next game – against Geylang International at Our Tampines Hub on Sunday – but revealed that the 1.87m forward will be ready to start if called upon.
“He (Bernie) is ready to play. In fact, he is ready to start against Geylang,” said Risto. “However, he is not at 100 percent yet – that will only come with more games, when he builds his confidence and scores goals. That’s when we’ll be able to see the best of him.
“But he is trying his best in every training session to reach the level we know he can. His will to get to where he needs to be is strong, and he’s determined to help the team for the remainder of the season.”
While the Sailors remain firmly in the chase for the SPL title, Risto insists that they are simply taking it game-by-game, starting with this weekend’s clash against the Eagles.
“We’re not thinking about the title for now. All we’re focused on is the next opponent, and the work that we have to do to beat them,” Risto said.
“Geylang are a very good team that plays good football. They are just three points behind us in the table, and they will be a stern test for us.
“Winning and losing is part of football, but the most important thing is that the players are giving their 100 percent in every game. I can assure the fans that our team will do just that and leave everything on the pitch to get the three points against Geylang.”
The Lion City Sailors’ Singapore Premier League (SPL) away fixture against Brunei DPMM scheduled for Saturday, 13 May will take place in Singapore at Jalan Besar Stadium at 6pm, instead of in Bandar Seri Begawan.
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) confirmed on Wednesday (3 May) night that DPMM will play all seven of their remaining home fixtures from Matchweek 10 to Matchweek 19 at Jalan Besar, as their home ground Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium in Brunei is still undergoing renovation works till at least mid-June.
Risto Vidaković’s men will face Geylang International at Our Tampines Hub on Sunday, 7 May before playing DPMM.
The Sailors will then end the month with a big home clash against reigning SPL champions Albirex Niigata (S) on Sunday, 21 May.
The Sailors emerged victorious the last time they faced DPMM, with a 3-1 home victory earlier in March through goals from Maxime Lestienne, Kodai Tanaka and Abdul Rasaq Akeem.
Three players from the Lion City Sailors have been called up to represent the Singapore Under-22s at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, from 5 to 17 May 2023, in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
The football competition at the biennial competition kicks off a week earlier.
Defenders Nur Adam Abdullah, Bill Mamadou and forward Abdul Rasaq Akeem make up part of Philippe Aw’s 20-strong final squad which was confirmed by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on Wednesday (26 April) evening.
The latter two are set to make their bow in the biennial regional competition after impressing for the Sailors in the first round of the 2023 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season.
Bill has started four of the Sailors’ eight matches this year, demonstrating the versatility to slot into both full-back and centre-back positions.
Meanwhile Rasaq has displayed his ever-sharpening predatory instincts up front, with five goals in six appearances – equalling his career-best tally achieved last season over 19 games in all competitions with the Young Lions.
This will be Nur Adam’s second SEA Games campaign after making his debut in last year’s delayed edition in Hanoi, Vietnam – playing in all four games, including a feisty 2-2 draw with Malaysia.
The effervescent left-back will be a key figure for the U22 setup, with his experience playing in regional competitions like the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the AFC Champions League over the past couple of years.
Aw’s boys face a tough challenge to qualify from Group B as they will jostle with the likes of record 16-time champions Thailand, regional powerhouses Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as an ever-improving Laos over 12 days between 30 April to 11 May.
Nur Adam – who recovered from a shoulder injury in time for this tournament – is determined to do all he can to help the national U22s put up a respectable showing.
“I know I’m one of the more experienced ones in the squad, so the responsibility is on me to lead and guide the younger players here. Also, it’s going to be my last SEA Games so I’m going to give my all to do the country proud,” said the 22-year-old.
“We all know how tough it will be, but nothing is going to stop us from trying. We’ve been gelling well as a group, and we’re all prepared to go out there to show what we can do.”
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A strong continent from the Lion City Sailors Women’s Team have been selected to represent Lionesses at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, from 5 to 17 May 2023, in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
The football competition at the biennial competition kicks off a week earlier.
Singapore Women’s National Team and Sailors skipper Ernie Sulastri Sontaril, along with ten others – goalkeepers Noor Kusumawati and Beatrice Tan, defenders Khairunnisa Khairol Anwar, Fatin Aqillah, Syazwani Ruzi, Umairah Hamdan, midfielders Ho Hui Xin and Venetia Lim and forwards Nur Izzati Rosni and Lila Tan – make up part of the 20-strong squad that was confirmed by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on Monday (24 April) evening.
Hui Xin earns a recall to the team after missing the cut for the recent Women’s Olympic Tournament 2024 Asian Qualifiers – where the Lionesses lost 6-0 to Thailand and were held to a 2-2 draw by Mongolia – while Lila is set to make her SEA Games debut after missing last year’s delayed edition due to school examinations.
Placed in Group B, the Lionesses will kick off their 2023 SEA Games campaign against five-time champions Thailand on Wednesday 3 May before facing Cambodia three days later. They will close their group stage campaign against Laos on 9 May.
With Moroccan Karim Bencherifa at the helm of the Lionesses, Ernie is looking forward to building on last year’s encouraging campaign that saw the Singapore women beating Laos for their first SEA Games win in 37 years.
“We feel very honoured to represent Singapore at the SEA Games for a second time. We have a good mix of experienced and young players, our team spirit is excellent, and we’ve been adapting well to our new coach’s tactical plans.
“There has been a lot of improvement in terms of our transition from defence to attack, and we’ve been working a lot on our fitness as well. We’re going into this year’s competition with a good mindset and we believe we can give a good account of ourselves again,” said the 34-year-old, who is Singapore’s most capped woman with 56 caps.
“Our target is to reach the top four. Hopefully with this more favourable grouping, we can get out of our group and win a medal for Singapore.”
The next generation of the Lion City Sailors will have an opportunity to hone their craft and showcase their talents when they kick off their 2023 Centre of Excellence (COE) Under-21 League campaign earlier next month.
Led by Head Coach Daan van Oudheusden who is also the assistant coach for the Sailors first team, the Sailors U21s will look to start the season on a good note against Balestier Khalsa on Tuesday, 9 May.
The first two fixtures against Young Lions B on 25 April and against SAFSA on 28 April will be rescheduled to a later date.
Played in a double round-robin format, the fledging Sailors will play a total of 16 games in the nine-team COE U21 league.
The Sailors Under-21s will feature some of the brightest talents who have already featured for the club’s first team – including forward Nathan Mao, who made history by becoming the youngest ever player to play in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) at 15 years and 5 days old when he came on against Tampines Rovers on 31 March 2023.
Attacking midfielder Jonan Tan and centre-back Idzham Eszuan Shah are another two who have already tasted top-flight professional action in the 2023 SPL season.
Yasir Nizamudin and Danie Hafiy, who shone by assisting the Sailors’ two goals in the 7-2 friendly defeat to German giants Borussia Dortmund last November, are also part of the squad.
Daan’s boys will wrap up their campaign against the Albirex Niigata (S) U19s on Tuesday, 3 October.
The Sailors U21s’ full COE U21 fixtures list for the 2023 season can be accessed here.
The Lion City Sailors paid the penalty for their profligacy against the Young Lions on Saturday (15 April) night, as they were held to a 1-1 draw in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) by Philippe Aw’s men at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Despite taking an early lead through Maxime Lestienne, the Sailors just could not find the crucial second goal to put the game to bed, despite having more of the ball and fashioning the better chances.
They were eventually made to rue their failure to capitalise on their dominance late on, when Sailors centre-back Lionel Tan was adjudged to have impeded Jordan Emaviwe in the penalty box – with the latter then converting from the spot to equalise with what was the last kick of the game.
Labelling the late equaliser as “unlucky”, Sailors head coach Risto Vidaković admitted that it was a momentary loss of focus that cost them the three points on the night.
“In the end, we were unlucky in the last minute with the penalty, which I think came at a very bad moment for us,” Risto reflected. “But in football, this can happen – you lose concentration at the last minute and commit a foul. It’s something that can happen, and we just have to improve.”
The night, however, started on a brilliant note for Risto’s side as it took only six minutes for the in-form Maxime to open the scoring, with the Belgian meeting Diego Lopes’ cutback and placing an unerring shot into the bottom corner for his sixth goal of the season.
The Sailors continued to put pressure on the home side, and very nearly doubled their lead in the 29th minute when striker Abdul Rasaq Akeem uncharacteristically put his close-range effort off-target after being found in the box by stand-in captain Hafiz Nor.
Hafiz wore the armband – in place of Hariss Harun who was sidelined by illness – in what was his 60th SPL appearance for the Sailors.
The 34-year-old is now the top SPL appearance maker for the club, superseding Gabriel Quak who played 59 times between 2020 to 2022.
While the Young Lions came out of the second half determined to put up more of a fight, the Sailors were still able to fashion several decent chances in front of goal, including substitute Shawal Anuar’s first-time volley in the 71st minute that went just wide.
Maxime found himself through on goal, 15 minutes later, but his shot from a tight angle was denied by Young Lions custodian Aizil Yazid at the near post.
Those missed opportunities came back to haunt the Sailors as the Young Lions stole a share of the spoils from the spot nine minutes into injury time.
Reflecting on the match as a whole, Risto said: “I expected a game like this. It was very competitive, they defended well, sat deep, kept compact, and gave us a physical battle. So it didn’t surprise me that the Young Lions put up a fight, especially in the second half.
“However, we tried our best, but missed a lot of chances in the first half. Now, we have to rest and forget what happened in this game. We’ll recover from this and try to play better in the next part of the season.”
Sailors defender Súper (Manuel Herrera López), who was named Man of the Match, added: “We are very disappointed with the result today because we got one point, but we were looking for all three points.
“Our promise to the fans is that we will keep working hard to improve in every department – from the defence to the midfield, to the strikers, and come back stronger.”
The result leaves the Sailors second in the SPL, five points behind league leaders Albirex Niigata (S). The Sailors will next be in action on Sunday 7 May, when they go away to face Geylang International.
Zharfan: We can do better, collectively
A Maxime Lestienne-inspired 5-0 rout of Hougang United put Lion City Sailors back on the winning trail in the Singapore Premier League (SPL), and they will be looking to continue in the same vein when they return to Jalan Besar Stadium to face the Young Lions on Saturday (15 April) night.
Young Lions have a spring in their step after coming from two goals down to hold Brunei DPMM in a gritty 2-2 draw on Tuesday (11 April) and could pose some problems, but Sailors goalkeeper Zharfan Rohaizad is confident that the Sailors can power home to a sixth victory in eight matches.
“Of course Young Lions will be brimming with confidence after their last result, but we’re ready for this test. We showed what we can do against Hougang, so our focus is largely on how we can best use our abilities to exploit our opponents’ weaknesses.
“Hopefully we can get a few goals with the likes of (Abdul) Rasaq (Akeem) and Bernie (Ibini-Isei). Most importantly, we’re out to keep another clean sheet,” said the 26-year-old, who has three shutouts in his last four outings.
This is shaping up to be one of the finest seasons for the fast-maturing Zharfan who has the joint-second most number of clean sheets in the league this season, along with Tampines Rovers’ Syazwan Buhari.
Zharfan added six saves to his tally in the Hougang victory, totalling 38 for the season – a league-leading statistic, 12 more than Geylang International’s Hafiz Ahmad.
A double save to deny Sahil Suhaimi and Gabriel Quak when the Sailors were only 2-0 up was a highlight from that game as he paid tribute to the training and support he has received since joining the club.
“I can see a huge difference in my game now. Our goalkeeper coaches Kris (Stergulc) and Chua (Lye Heng) have been working tirelessly to help me improve so credit goes to them – I take their instructions seriously and I always view every game as a chance for me to do even better than before.
“Obviously coming to a club like the Sailors, I know I have to up my game. I’m happy with how it’s going so far but there’s always room for more improvement,” said Zharfan, who has started all seven Sailors’ games in 2023.
“We’re still very much a work in progress with new and young players in defence. It’s still early days and we will definitely understand each other better and gel even more with more games. I’m already seeing a good partnership forming between Lionel Tan and Súper (Manuel Herrera López) and I’m excited to see what more they can do.
“It’s definitely a collective effort from front to back. I never doubted my teammates one bit and I trust them to protect my goal – together with me,” said the former Tanjong Pagar United and Young Lions custodian.
Zharfan’s long-term goal is to be the Singapore national team’s number one in the near future, but he is now firmly focused on pushing the Sailors towards reclaiming the SPL title this season.
“I’m not too upset or disappointed at not being named in the national squad for the recent March friendlies against Macau and Hong Kong, there will always be other opportunities,” he said.
“Obviously I want to be there and make my first Lions appearance one day, but right now I’m just focusing on the Sailors. Our aim is to be SPL champions this season and we’re striving very hard as a team to achieve that.”
Last night (10 March) the Lion City Sailors returned to Jalan Besar Stadium for the first time since the club moved out of the venue for Bishan at the end of the 2022 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season. But the Sailors looked like they never left.
With Maxime Lestienne as conductor extraordinaire on Jalan Besar’s artificial green stage, the Sailors waltzed around Hougang United, comfortably dispatching the Cheetahs 5-0.
Magnificent Max scored two goals and set up another two for his teammates on the night, but he was quick to turn attention back to the team and the title race.
“I’m very happy with what I was able to do today, but it was a team performance, especially from Diego (Lopes) and (Abdul) Rasaq (Akeem) who scored,” said the Belgian, whose goal and assist tally for 2023 stands at five and eight respectively.
“I hate to lose, and I was really upset about our loss to Tampines so I’m happy that we got the three points. We were able to show glimpses of what we are capable of and what our coach expects of us – something we failed to do last time out,” added Maxime.
“I’m happy with my performance so far this season, just try to do my best every day. I don’t really care if I score – that’s a bonus, of course – but the most important thing for me is that we win games and push to win the league title.”
The result was the perfect response that Head Coach Risto Vidaković had called for, following the 4-3 reverse to Tampines on 31 March.
Having made three changes to the starting line-up, Risto’s Sailors took just five minutes to open the scoring.
After Rasaq – who returned to the starting line-up after missing the Tampines match – was fouled on the edge of the area by Kristijan Krajček in the fifth minute, Maxime proceeded to curl a sumptuous free-kick past a Zaiful Nizam at full stretch.
The game turned in Hougang’s favour thereafter, Sailors custodian Zharfan Rohaizad being kept busy with Hougang even putting the ball in the back of his net through Krajček on 38 minutes, but it was ruled out for offside, much to the relief of the Sailors defence.
The Sailors would go two up just before half-time when the unmarked Rasaq clinically swept home Maxime’s cutback from inside the area.
Rasaq then netted his second of the evening in the 72nd minute with an unerring finish after being teed up by Hami Syahin. It was the forward’s fifth league goal of the season, surpassing the four he netted with the Young Lions in 2022.
“He’s a young player who needs time, but for now he is giving more than expected so it’s a good thing,” Risto said of the 21-year-old.
Rasaq was soon replaced by new signing Bernie Ibini-Isei for his Sailors debut, and the goals kept coming.
Diego – who took over the armband after Hariss Harun was replaced by M Anumanthan – got his name on the scoresheet two minutes from time, poking home following a stunning team move – with Maxime again the creator – for his second goal of the season.
The Belgian rounded off the scoring in stoppage time with a tidy finish into the far corner as the Sailors returned to winning ways.
Risto said after the match: “We struggled a lot in the first half where we couldn’t really keep the ball and play the way we wanted, but things got better after the third goal and we showed what we can do.
“I understand that it wasn’t easy on the players, it’s normal for the younger members of the team, especially those who may not have been in this situation of challenging for the title. Hopefully this win will give them the necessary confidence for the upcoming games.”
The Sailors will be in action in the SPL again this Saturday, 15 April, when they face the Young Lions at the same venue.
