John Duerden
Asian football writer
Published
Eight years have passed since Leicester City shocked the world by winning the English Premier League - but there is an even more far-fetched and unlikely story brewing in the Japanese top flight.
Machida Zelvia, who only formed in 1989 and were a non-league team until 2009, are five points clear at the top of the J-League with 14 games left.
They had never even played at the highest level before this season.
Nobody saw this coming. Leicester at least had an experienced international manager in Claudio Ranieri, but Machida's boss Go Kuroda is in just his second season as coach of a professional side. He was in charge of a high-school team before that.
Just like in England back in 2016, plenty have been waiting for the bubble to burst - but the team from western Tokyo remain confident.
"We want to win the title and we have that belief," Machida striker Mitch Duke told BBC Sport.
Duke, an imposing Australia international who scored the only goal in the Socceroos' win over Tunisia in the 2022 World Cup, is only a year or so younger than the club he joined at the start of 2023.
"We have passed the halfway mark and played everyone. We can match it with anyone in the league, no matter what the history of the other teams. They have to chase us and it is ours to lose," Duke said.
Early wins over Japanese powerhouses Nagoya Grampus, Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale were impressive, but Machida would not be the first promoted team to start well before fading.
The difference so far is that, while there have been losses, each time the Blues have reacted by going on a good run.
From high school to the big time
For 28 years, Kuroda was in charge of the football team at Aomori Yamada High School, based in the city of Aomori on the northern tip of the country.
This is a bigger deal than it sounds as high-school football is an established part of Japan's sporting environment. National finals - Aomori won three under Kuroda - are a massive annual event played in front of big crowds and watched by millions across the country.
Even so, Machida took quite a gamble.
"I have no experience as a professional player and I don't know what the professional field is like," Kuroda said upon his appointment by Machida. "But let's see what I can do."
After an impressive promotion in his first season and a tilt at the title this time, the gamble has paid off - but this is more about hard work than good luck.
"All the players know exactly what he wants from them," said Duke.
"There is a ruthlessness in our team and the coach is setting a certain standard and is not afraid to change. Even if you don't train hard enough you can find yourself out of the team."
Former Japan international and Feyenoord star Shinji Ono recently observed Machida's training. "It was like high school, or rather, the kind of training I was taught in high school," Ono said.
"Each session was really tough, and everyone was doing it seriously. The intensity was so high. I think that is showing in their games."
Image source, Getty Images
A team without stars
While money has been spent, it helps that this is a team without ego and without stars.
"After promotion, we did have a cleanout of players and brought in 12 or 13 seasoned pros, but you wouldn't say they were superstars,” said Duke.
Former Japan defender Gen Shoji was brought in to add experience and leadership at the back.
"I am enjoying the season so far and am full of confidence," said Shoji in July.
"We want to improve upon what we did in the first half of the season, and this is reflected in our training as well as our games.
"We have been working hard since pre-season and we are now used to that intensity.”
There is no doubt that players have progressed under Kuroda.
Big South Korea forward Oh Se-hun has impressed so much this season that he earned his first international call-up in June, while winger Yu Hirakawa joined Bristol City in July.
Simple and basic but riding a wave
After some big results at recent World Cups and with a growing number of players in Europe, football fans everywhere are aware that the Japanese style of play tends to be technical, possession-based and easy on the eye.
Machida are different.
Not only is this a new name in the top tier but the style is also new - direct and aggressive, with the ball going forward quickly.
"It is clear to see that we play in a different way and the statistics back that up," said Duke.
"We work to our strengths as any team should and have the players to play a certain way. We work hard - we are solid as a team, very intense and we run until we drop.
"We can be simple and basic and we don't overplay and that has helped us. We force mistakes high up the pitch and we score off those and we don't give cheap goals away."
It may well be that the traditional powers start to work Machida out. If they are going to do so, however, it will have to be soon.
"After a few games in, we changed our goals," said Duke. "We thought 'we can do something, we can go and win, not just the top three but we want to win'.
"It has been a nice surprise package for everyone involved and we are riding the wave."
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