Three months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami almost wiped out its season, Vegalta Sendai is contending for the J-League title.
Sendai, the J-League team hardest hit by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the tsunami that followed, defeated Ventforet Kofu 4-0 on Wednesday to move within one point of leaders Kashiwa Reysol.
Coach Makoto Teguramori's club has 24 points from six wins and six draws and is the only undefeated team in the league - a remarkable achievement given all the team has gone through in the past few months.
''We want to keep this unbeaten run going and the fans are helping us to do that,'' Teguramori said.
Vegalta's home stadium sustained serious damage from the earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Several foreign players, like Brazilian striker Marquinhos, headed home after the disaster, forcing Teguramori to shuffle his lineup.
The team was forced to train away from home before the season and its first home game was delayed for more than a month.
Then there's the nuclear crises that was triggered by the earthquake. Sendai lies well beyond the 20-kilometer restricted zone set up around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant but is closer to the radiation-leaking facility than other J-League teams.
Despite all this, Teguramori's team is playing beyond expectations. Sendai finished 14th in the 18-team league last season and few expected them to contend for the title this year even before the events of March 11.
Ryang Yong Gi and Kodai Watanabe scored first-half goals Wednesday. Shingo Akamine and Yuki Nakashima completed the scoring to preserve Sendai's unbeaten run.
North Korean midfielder Ryang, who is expected to fill some of the void left by Marquinhos, scored his first goal of the season Wednesday.
''The ball fell nicely for me and it was good to get a goal,'' Ryang said. ''I haven't been scoring so the timing of this was good and hopefully I can keep scoring.''
Vegalta has never come close to winning the J-League title. They were first promoted to the top flight in 2002, but went back down the following season. They were promoted again for the 2010 season.
