Maxime Lestienne hopes to sign off with a century of assists for Lion City Sailors

SINGAPORE – Since arriving in Singapore in 2022, the Lion City Sailors’ mercurial winger Maxime Lestienne has enthralled local football fans with his sublime skills and ability to conjure something out of nothing.

As the 33-year-old winds down his stint here, he has offered a final reminder of the output and trademark creativity that will soon be sorely missed in the Sailors’ ranks.

In his penultimate game for the Singapore Premier League (SPL) club on Dec 17, the Belgian registered a goal and an assist as the Sailors beat Myanmar’s Shan United 3-2 in the Asean Club Championship.

That came just three days after he notched a hat-trick of assists in a 4-1 first-leg rout of Balestier Khalsa in the Singapore Cup semi-finals.

Ahead of his final match for the Sailors – the semi-final, second leg at Jalan Besar Stadium on Dec 20 – he is eyeing another statistic to end his Singapore stint on a perfect note.

“I am up to 97 assists. I still have one more game to reach 100. It will be difficult, but I will try my best to do it,” he told The Straits Times.

Lestienne’s contract expires at the end of December. While the club were keen to extend his stay, he has decided to return home to be closer to his family after having plied his trade abroad for many years.

Besides being the Sailors’ top assist contributor, he is also their all-time leading scorer with 70 goals since the club’s 2020 privatisation.

Lestienne was also named in the SPL Team of the Year thrice, while earning the Golden Boot and Player of the Year awards in 2023.

His successful spell here also yielded two Singapore Cups, an SPL title and a historic run to the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) final, where he scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser.

Not surprisingly, it was tough for him to pick his standout memory in a Sailors’ shirt.

“Too many best moments,” he said. “I am proud of what I achieved. I worked hard. I deserve it, I think. I scored a lot of goals and gave a lot of assists.”

But, beyond the numbers, it was the environment that the club gave him that made it an “amazing” stint.

“I have played for a lot of clubs in my career, but this one, for me, it’s the best club,” said the former Standard Liege player, adding that he had not imagined staying for so long when he first arrived.

Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic admitted that the loss of a “special player” like Lestienne would be significant.

“Amazing player, amazing personality, somebody who will be extremely missed not only for his football quality but also as a person,” said the Serb. “I enjoy every minute working with him, so I’m going to miss him a lot.

“Maxime is a special player, one who can always make a difference. Those players are very rare and difficult to find… Everybody knows his left foot, but a lot of things we forget… he works a lot and is also a winner.”

Rankovic is hoping that the team can give him a memorable farewell with a win.

Looking to spoil the send-off party is Tigers coach Marko Kraljevic, who is fully aware of Lestienne’s prowess. He said: “He is of a different class. Those three goals he set up (in the first leg) came just from him. Every game, he’s doing something extra.”

“In the ACL2 game against Persib Bandung, he came in and just changed the game. It’s a different level,” he added, referring to Lestienne’s second-half introduction that inspired a comeback 3-2 win against the Indonesian side on Nov 26.

Balestier have a mountain to climb to overcome a three-goal deficit, but Kraljevic said they are not giving up.

“In the last game, we were struggling with crosses and set pieces. They gave us lots of problems,” he added, before highlighting the threats of defenders Bailey Wright and Toni Datkovic, midfielders Rui Pires and Tsiy Ndenge and strikers Lennart Thy and Anderson Lopes, who are all above 1.8m.

“They are a really tall team… we need to be tighter and close down better and avoid giving away set pieces.”

He is boosted by the availability of Lazar Vujanic, who returns to steady the midfield after serving a one-match suspension. Winger Daniel Goh is also set to fill in for the injured Jakov Katusa, who is nursing an ankle injury.

BG Tampines Rovers v Albirex Niigata, Dec 20, 7.30pm, Our Tampines Hub

Having topped the group stage, hopes were high for Albirex, but a late collapse against a rampant Tampines saw them lose 4-0 in their semi-final, first leg on Dec 14.

Barring a miracle at Our Tampines Hub, the White Swans’ quest for their first cup final appearance since their 2018 triumph will continue.