Japanese minnows one win from fairytale Champions League title

Japanese minnows Machida Zelvia have vowed to keep their cool in Saturday’s final on hostile soil as they attempt to pull off a major shock by winning a fairytale Asian Champions League crown.

The unheralded team from Tokyo’s suburbs, led by a former high-school coach, battled into the final with a 1-0 win over UAE side Shabab Al Ahli on Tuesday.

Now they must face down the home crowd in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when they clash with defending champions Al Ahli at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

It was the latest remarkable result for Machida on their debut campaign in Asia’s top club competition, just over a decade after being in non-league — semi-professional — football.

The club was founded in 1989 and mostly played non-league football before joining the newly created J. League third division in 2014.

They only played their debut season in Japan’s first division two years ago.

Go Kuroda, who spent almost three decades coaching one of Japan’s top high-school sides, warned his team were hitting form at just the right time.

“This is the first time that Machida Zelvia are challenging in Asia and the players are performing really well,” said Kuroda, according to the Asian Football Confederation website.

Machida’s surprise run has been built on a remarkably stingy defence — this was their third 1-0 win in a row in the knockout rounds.

“The players stayed focused till the end and that was great,” added Kuroda.

“To keep a clean sheet is our motto and we managed to achieve that, so it gives us confidence.”

Kuroda, who was hired in late 2022 and has masterminded Machida’s unlikely rise to the top of Asian football, added: “The atmosphere will be immense, so we have to keep our composure.”

Yuki Soma’s goal in the 12th minute in front of a sparse crowd in Tuesday’s semi-final in Jeddah was just about enough.

Shabab Al Ahli were denied an injury-time equaliser when Guilherme Bala’s brilliant solo run and finish was ruled out because the Emirati side had restarted play before a Machida substitution was complete.

Their coach, the former Portugal international Paulo Sousa, stormed down the tunnel in disgust before injury time had finished.

“We deserved to be in the final but we are not,” said Sousa.

Al Ahli struck twice in eight second-half minutes in their semi-final on Monday to beat another Japanese side, Vissel Kobe, 2-1.

England international striker Ivan Toney scored the winner in front of 44,716 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

For the second year running Jeddah is staging the eight-team centralised finals series of the continent’s premier football competition, rebranded last year as the Asian Champions League Elite.