For the past two seasons, the Lion City Sailors have proudly represented Singapore in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL), securing impressive victories over K-League 1 sides Daegu FC and two-time ACL champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
As the Sailors gear up for their third consecutive season in AFC club competitions, with their 2024/25 ACL Two campaign opener on Thursday (19 September) night against China’s Zhejiang Professional, attacker Maxime Lestienne remains hungry for more, and has set his sights on making history in the newly revamped second-tier club tournament in Asia.
“I know we’ve had good campaigns in the ACL previously; we achieved seven points in 2022, which was our best record, and we got six points in 2023. But we can still do more,” declared the 32-year-old, who has played in each of the Sailors’ 12 ACL games across the two campaigns.
“We have the quality to do something special in this competition. As long as we play and fight as a team, I think we have a chance to qualify for the knockout stages.
“We want to achieve this not just for ourselves and the club, but also for our chairman Forrest Li. He gives his best for everyone here, and he deserves something in return. I hope we can make him proud this season.”
Maxime’s strong belief in the team stems from the Sailors’ impressive performances in previous campaigns. To him, it is clear that playing against the region’s top clubs brings the best in the team.
“We went to Hong Kong and managed to beat their champions (Kitchee SC)… we lost to Jeonbuk in Korea, but when we played them in Singapore, we showed our mentality and intensity. With the fans behind us, we played a great game and showed what we can bring at this level,” said the Belgian, who has previously featured in the UEFA Champions League with PSV Eindhoven.
Looking ahead to this year’s revamped ACL Two tournament, where the Sailors are placed in Group F alongside 2023 Chinese Super League runners-up Zhejiang, 2023/24 Thai League 1 third-placed Port FC, and reigning Indonesia Liga 1 champions Persib Bandung, Maxime emphasised the importance of being solid as a unit to progress to the knockout stages.
“Honestly, I don’t care who we play, it’s still 11 vs 11. It’s a privilege to be playing in the ACL – as a club and as players, we live for these moments, and we have to leave everything on the pitch,” he said.
“Everyone must be at their best and be willing to push a bit more. At this level, we won’t have that many chances to score, so we have to be clinical in front of goal, and fight together for a clean sheet.”
The Sailors are often noted for their foreign A-listers with European pedigree, but Maxime believes that the local players are just as crucial to the team’s success.
“I cannot do everything alone; we’re a team. I can tell you, our best player in this team is Shawal (Anuar). He’s an amazing player and the things he can do is unbelievable,” the former Belgian youth international revealed.
“We’ve players like Hariss (Harun) and Hami (Syahin) – they do a lot for the team, but sometimes, their work is not seen. Of course, we have Song (Uiyoung) back this year – everyone saw what he did in the ACL (for the Sailors) two years ago, and he’s someone who always fights for the team.
“We need everyone in this squad, and I’m lucky to be teammates with these players.”
With confidence and excitement building for another season of competing with Asia’s best, Maxime has urged his team to represent Singapore football with pride.
He said, “Maybe there’ll be those who think playing a Singapore club will be easy, but it’s our job to show them that it’s not. We want to show to all of Asia our quality. It’s our responsibility to bring up the name of this club.”
