Harhys Stewart eyes more goals as Lions face arch-rivals Malaysia in FIFA ASEAN Cup

BANDUNG – When the Lions travelled to Indonesia for the ongoing FIFA ASEAN Cup, their 23-man squad had just two recognised strikers, Ilhan Fandi and Shawal Anuar.

Both have not made the scoresheet in Jakarta, but the Singapore football team have found goals from an unlikely source this season – midfielder Harhys Stewart.

The 25-year-old has scored three times for the Lions in 2026, notching his first international goal in a 1-0 win against Bangladesh in Asian Cup qualifying in March, and against Thailand at the ASEAN Championship in their 2-1 win in August.

On Sept 28 against Bangladesh at the ASEAN Cup, he scored again, making him Singapore’s second-highest scorer for the year behind only Ilhan.

Stewart told The Straits Times that his time in Thailand has transformed him as a player. The 1.85m footballer has not missed a single minute for Thai League 1 club Chiangrai United this season – he featured in the full 270 minutes across their three league games so far – following a spell at Uthai Thani.

A more defensive player in his youth, Stewart, who older brother Ryhan plays in right-back for the Lions, has also moved further up field in recent years.

In an interview at the Pullman Bandung Grand Central on Sept 30, Stewart said: “At Chiangrai this season, they wanted me to be a bit more attacking than before, so the president’s always on me – like after training and before training, he’ll say, ‘Oh, just go do finishing afterwards.

“It just helps my confidence, and that just makes it a bit more like a natural thing.”

He also learns from watching other international players like Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay, who at Manchester United was also deployed in a more defensive position.

Stewart added: “He started off also a bit deeper, and then slowly he’s been moved up and has been very dynamic and not your typical attacking midfielder.

“But he showed that he has the ability to get forward, get in the box, get late runs, and also get lots of goals and assists as well.”

Lions coach Gavin Lee has also noticed the same shift in Stewart’s game.

The 36-year-old said: “The issue is that we all think that the goals must be scored by the strikers and because of that logic, people mark the strikers more tightly.

“And Harhys is a benefactor of these situations – he sneaks around the back, and puts the goal in. But credit to the boy, he has to get himself in those positions first, and it’s not easy.

“He’s involved in the build-up, and then he needs to burst a lung to get into the box. But that speaks volumes about his desire and efforts to help the team.”

Singapore will hope to get Stewart firing again on Oct 1, when they face Causeway rivals Malaysia at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung in a match they must win to guarantee progression from Group A.

Standing in their way is Malaysia winger and talisman Arif Aiman, who scored twice in their 3-0 win over Bangladesh in the tournament opener and remains their biggest attacking threat against Singapore.

Lee said: “We all know his abilities, but at the same time, they’ve got (Brazil-born) Bergson now and he adds quality up front as well.

“At the back as well, they added Brad Tapp to their list of players, and he’s formed a good partnership with Dion Cools, who is playing at a very high level in J1 (Cerezo Osaka in Japan).”

Singapore will also have Safuwan Baharudin back at the team after serving a one-match suspension for his red card in the opening match against Indonesia.

On his return, Lee said: “That’s nice… It was a miss to not have Safuwan against Bangladesh, but abilities on the pitch is one thing, but having someone like him around also adds to the conditions for the team to put us in a better place.”

The two sides last met in a friendly in September 2025, which Malaysia won 2-1. Singapore’s last win over their rivals in a 2022 friendly had the scoreline.

Looking ahead to the derby, Malaysia coach Tan Cheng Hoe said after a training session on Sept 30: “The players are quite satisfied with the recent performances and results. Those results have given us confidence to play as a team, and the players are beginning to understand each other better.

“Of course, we know that playing Singapore in this Causeway derby will not be an easy match. There will be a lot of emotion involved and the pressure will be very high. The most important thing is for us to stay focused on our game tomorrow night.”

One factor working in both teams’ favour is the weather.

Unlike the sweltering 34 deg C conditions in Jakarta during the Singapore-Bangladesh clash, Bandung sits 768m above sea level and offers markedly cooler evenings, with average temperatures around 24 deg C.

“It’s nice weather to play football, and hopefully it stays that way – no rain and it’ll be quite a should be an enjoyable night to play some football,” said Lee.

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