It was, and remains, an incredible story, although, as predicted, there was some drop off in league form and over Machida's final 11 games, they collected just 11 points, finishing 6th (second highest placing in their history). However, they did win their first ever major title, the 2025 Emperor's Cup, beating 2023 and 2024 J-League champions, Vissel Kobe , 3-1 in the final. They also qualified top of the Eastern Region in the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Elite and will start the knockout stage of that early next month. Five Machida players also earned call ups to the national team in 2025, which is just as unlikely a story, as almost all of the squad is based in Europe and spots open to those playing their football domestically, are few and far between. The quintet were a mixture of a loan(1), free transfers(2) and small fees (2) all signed on a budget, outperforming anything they had done previously, or in a very long time and all remain at the club as I type. Just amazing and possibly the story is not yet finished! 

 

Having said all that, Kuroda is not "perfect" and has been given a strong warning over abusive and other inappropriate remarks directed at team members, by Japan's football governing body. The 55 year-old is required to undergo training aimed at preventing a recurrence. Kuroda received a formal reprimand from J-League in December for describing a player who failed to follow his instructions as a "dissenter" and for shouting at a coach ,actions that Machida said were not formally recognized as power harassment.