Reality is truly sometimes stranger than fiction.
When Machida Zelvia take on Al Ahli in this Saturday's AFC Champions League Elite final, the man plotting what would -- in itself -- be an incredible title triumph in their debut campaign is one who was astoundingly still coaching high school football as recently as in 2022.
Even the creators of Ted Lasso thought it would at least be wise to give the well-loved fictional tactician a professional background - albeit in the other "football". Surely anything less would simply be farfetched.
But that is exactly what Kuroda has achieved -- and it wasn't even a case of him being a career coach in the high school scene that eventually got his big break.
He actually just started out at Aomori Yamada High School in a regular teaching job before getting involved with the football team .
The rest, as they say, is history.
In almost three decades of involvement with the school's football team, Kuroda oversaw a stunning rise where they would feature in the nationwide All Japan High School Soccer Tournament for 26 consecutive years.
He led them to three titles, including a first in 2016. With four triumphs currently, Aomori Yamada are now the fourth-most successful team in the competition but -- when considering none of the teams above or on par with them have tasted success since 2003 -- it is them who are arguably the powerhouses of the past decade.
"I was a teacher in high school for 30 years and we won the All Japan tournament so I managed to create a top football team in high school," Kuroda previously explained.
"Then I was given this opportunity. Of course it was to do with the football. But my priority is to organise the team.
"Team management is my forte and I have been doing this for age.. "On top of that we have built the technical aspects of the team.
"Football is the same in high school and professional football. This is sport, whether it's at the professional level or not."
Unlike other parts of the world, the high school scene in Japan is actually a huge component of the pathway to professional football. While the professional club academy setup is now growing more robust, plenty of Japan's brightest prospects previously -- and still -- cut their teeth playing high school football.
In fact, the J.League even has a "designated player player" system where youngsters can be signed to clubs while still retaining their status as a registered student in their respective high school or university.
Numerous players who have gone on to represent Japan -- including at the FIFA World Cup -- benefitted from this scheme, including current internationals Kaoru Mitoma, Junya Itō and Hidemasa Morita.
Aomori Yamada products Gaku Shibasaki and Kuryu Matsuki have both gone on to play in Europe, with the latter -- currently playing in the English Championship with Southampton -- part of Kuroda's 2021 title-winning team.
Now, their former coach stands on the precipice of writing another noteworthy chapter in his and Machida's story.
When Machida handed Kuroda his first professional job, they had just finished 12th in the second tier. In his first year at the helm, he took them all the way to the top -- securing promotion to the J1 League for the first time.
Then, in their first foray in the big time, Machida somehow upset the odds to challenge for the title before eventually settling for a third-place finish -- which was still enough to reach the next frontier: continental qualification.
That paved the way for their current run to this weekend's ACL Elite decider. Along the way, Kuroda has also led Machida to a first major piece of silverware in last year's Emperor's Cup.
That would surely be surpassed if Kuroda can somehow mastermind the unlikeliest of triumphs on Saturday.
Poignantly, Kuroda might even have come up against another former protégé this weekend's in Yuta Goke -- had Vissel Kobe been able to overcome Al Ahli in the semifinals.
Instead, Aomori Yamada -- and perhaps all of Japanese football -- will now solely be behind Kuroda, as he proves that high school football is not only a route to the top for players but also coaches.
Even if it all does seem stranger than fiction.
