japanese association football player

Kagawa Shinji. This article uses The native imprint of this personal identify is. This article uses westerly name ordain when note individuals. Shinji Kagawa ( japanese : 香川 真司 Kagawa Shinji [ kaɡaɰa ɕindʑi ] ; born 17 March 1989 ) is a japanese professional football player who plays as a midfielder for greek Super League club PAOK and the Japan national team. Kagawa began his professional career in his fatherland with Cerezo Osaka before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2010. After two years with Dortmund, Kagawa signed for Manchester United on a four-year contract. Two years later, he returned to Dortmund. [ 4 ] Kagawa holds the records for most appearances and goals by a japanese musician in UEFA baseball club competitions. [ 5 ]

Reading: Shinji Kagawa

Since making his senior international debut in May 2008, he has won over 90 caps and scored over 30 goals. On 29 November 2012, Kagawa was named asian Football Confederation International Player of the Year. [ 6 ]

Club career [edit ]

Kagawa was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. [ 3 ] He started playing football at the long time of five. He joined Marino Football Club from 1994 to 1999, [ 7 ] Kobe NK Football Club from 1999 to 2001, and FC Miyagi Barcelona in Sendai from 2001 to 2005. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ]

Cerezo Osaka [edit ]

Cerezo Osaka noticed his talent and signed him at the age of 17. He was the first player in Japan to sign a professional contract before graduating from high school, except players promoted from youth teams of the J.League clubs. [ 12 ] In 2007, he gained a regular position but the club missed promotion to the J.League Division 1. It was in 2009 that he became the exceed scorer of J.League Division 2 and drew far-flung attention .

Borussia Dortmund [edit ]

2010–11 season [edit ]

In the summer of 2010, Kagawa transferred from Cerezo to Borussia Dortmund for €350,000. The relatively modest cost of the transfer was because of a unblock article in Kagawa ‘s shrink with Cerezo, which allowed him to leave the club cheaply if he had an opportunity to play in Europe. [ 13 ] On 23 August 2010, he made his debut appearance in the Bundesliga, starting for his new golf club Dortmund. After scoring his first base two competitive goals for the club in the UEFA Europa League qualifying tie against Qarabağ FK, he continued this shape with his first goal in the Bundesliga catch against VfL Wolfsburg, which Dortmund won 2–0. [ 14 ] In the Revierderby against arch-rivals Schalke 04, which Dortmund won 3–1, Kagawa claimed pre-match that he would score two goals ; he accomplished the feat, making him a fan favorite in the process. [ 15 ] Kagawa missed half of the Bundesliga season because of an injury he picked up on external duty with Japan, but managed to score eight goals in 18 appearances. His strong campaign in the first one-half of the season helped his side finish as champions of the Bundesliga, and he was even named in the Bundesliga Best XI. [ 16 ]

2011–12 season [edit ]

Kagawa was second in clock for the depart of the 2011–12 Bundesliga political campaign and promptly found his means binding into the starting line-up. Kagawa scored his inaugural finish of the new Bundesliga season on 18 September, coming on in a disappoint 2–1 loss to Hannover 96, as Dortmund gave up two goals in the last three minutes. [ 17 ] On 22 October, Kagawa opened the score in the seventh minute as Dortmund crushed 1. FC Köln 5–0 in front man of 80,200 home fans at the Signal Iduna Park. [ 18 ] Kagawa scored again on 5 November, as Dortmund brushed digression VfL Wolfsburg 5–1 and moved within two points of league leaders Bayern Munich. Kagawa scored a late consolation against Arsenal in a 2–1 loss in the group degree of the Champions League. On 28 January 2012, Kagawa scored twice in Dortmund ‘s 3–1 gain against Hoffenheim. Kagawa scored the only goal of the game against Werder Bremen on 17 March, heading in a authorize from İlkay Gündoğan in the eighth minute. [ 19 ] Kagawa scored two goals in Dortmund ‘s 6–1 thrashing of Cologne on 25 March, keeping Dortmund five points ahead of Bayern in the entitle raceway. [ 20 ] Kagawa won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2012 as they set a Bundesliga record scoring the most points in a season in the Bundesliga, with 81. Kagawa besides scored a goal and provided an assist for Dortmund against rivals Bayern Munich in the 2012 DFB-Pokal Final. He scored a sum of 13 goals and had 8 assists during that season .

manchester United [edit ]

On 5 June 2012, it was announced by Manchester United that the club had reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund and Kagawa for his transfer, [ 21 ] a distribute that made him the first japanese player to join the club. [ 22 ] The fee was reported to be an initial £12 million, with a promote £5 million in possible add-ons. [ 23 ] The transfer was completed on 22 June after Kagawa passed his checkup at Manchester United and received his united kingdom employment permit. [ 24 ] On 3 July, it was revealed that Kagawa would wear the number 26 shirt for United. [ 25 ] Kagawa spoke about his former club, Borussia Dortmund, saying, “ I will carry this club, their bang-up fans, and the whole city in my heart constantly and will follow their results with great matter to. ” [ 26 ] On 18 July 2012, Kagawa was handed a two-minute appearance to mark his Manchester United debut in Durban, South Africa, against AmaZulu in a pre-season friendly match. [ 27 ] Kagawa made his first originate for the Red Devils against Ajax Cape Town on 21 July 2012, [ 28 ] and scored his first goal against Shanghai Shenhua four days later. [ 29 ] He made his Premier League debut on 20 August 2012, playing the broad 90 minutes of United ‘s 1–0 frustration away to Everton. [ 30 ] He scored his first goal against Fulham on 25 August in his home introduction for the club. After Tom Cleverley ‘s film was parried by Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, Kagawa scored on the rebound from close rate. [ 31 ] On 19 September, Kagawa was given his first Champions League originate as United played against Galatasaray. He provided an assist for the winning goal scored by Michael Carrick in a 1–0 succeed. [ 32 ] On 23 October, he set up Javier Hernández for United ‘s first goal in an eventual 3–2 Champions League victory against Braga. In that match, however, he twisted his knee, which left him sidelined for two months. [ 33 ] Kagawa returned from injury in January 2013. On 2 March 2013, Kagawa scored his first hat-trick for United and besides became the first Asian player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, [ 34 ] in his team ‘s 4–0 home winnings against Norwich City. [ 35 ] On 22 April, Kagawa played a separate in the title-winning match against Aston Villa in which United won 3–0 ; he became the first japanese musician to win a Premier League championship. On 12 May, Kagawa was included in the United squad to play against Swansea City in Alex Ferguson ‘s last home game before retirement, which United won 2–1. On the lapp day, Kagawa received his Premier League decoration and was voted Man of the Match .

return to Dortmund [edit ]

On 31 August 2014, Kagawa formally returned to his former club, Borussia Dortmund, for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £6.5 million and signing a shrink until 30 June 2018. [ 4 ] [ 36 ] He was assigned the shirt number 7 which was vacated by Jonas Hofmann who had left Dortmund to 1. FSV Mainz 05 on loanword. [ 37 ] On his fall introduction, Kagawa scored a finish and set up another to help Dortmund win 3–1 against SC Freiburg. [ 38 ] On 14 July 2017, Kagawa extended his abridge with Dortmund until 2020. [ 39 ] In the inaugural half of the 2018–19 season, a combination of injury and coach Lucien Favre ‘s predilection to play Marco Reus as a central attack midfielder meant Kagawa played just four times for Dortmund. That led to Kagawa joining turkish club Beşiktaş on loanword for the remainder of the season. [ 40 ]

zaragoza [edit ]

On 9 August 2019, Kagawa completed a transfer to Real Zaragoza of Spain ‘s Segunda División, penning a biennial condense. [ 41 ] He debuted for the club on 17 August 2019, in the 2019–20 Segunda División opening match against Tenerife at La Romareda, which Zaragoza won 2–0. [ 42 ] Eight days late, he scored his foremost goal in a 1–1 string against Ponferradina. [ 43 ] On 2 October 2020, Kagawa ‘s abridge was terminated by Zaragoza. [ 44 ]

Read more: Swansea City A.F.C.

PAOK [edit ]

On 27 January 2021, Kagawa joined Super League Greece baseball club PAOK on a one-and-a-half-year contract. [ 45 ]

International career [edit ]

Kagawa played as a extremity of the Japan home under-20 football team in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada. [ 46 ] In 2008, he was besides selected to play as a extremity of the japanese team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. [ 47 ] On 24 May 2008, he made his senior external introduction in a friendly Kirin Cup match. Japan won the match against Ivory Coast 1–0. however, was not selected in Takeshi Okada ‘s final 23 squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In September 2010, he scored the only goal of the bet on in Japan ‘s gain over Paraguay in Yokohama. [ 48 ] Kagawa was included in the 2011 AFC asian Cup by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. [ 49 ] In the quarter-final against Qatar, he scored two goals. The game ended in 3–2 succeed for Japan. [ 50 ] In the semi-final against South Korea, Kagawa broke his metatarsal bone [ 51 ] and missed the concluding where Japan beat Australia after extra-time. Kagawa was named in Japan ‘s 23-man team for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and scored the second finish for his country during the group stage match against Italy, which ended in a 4–3 loss. He was selected for his first World Cup in 2014, but made fiddling shock as the “ Samurai Blue ” was eliminated at the group stage. [ 52 ] At the 2015 AFC asian Cup, Kagawa scored Japan ‘s second goal during a 2–0 get the better of of Jordan in the group stage and was named as serviceman of the match. [ 53 ] Kagawa participated in Japan ‘s quarter-final match against the United Arab Emirates. After the match ended 1–1 after excess fourth dimension, Kagawa, who was Japan ‘s final examination kicker in the penalty shoot-out, hit the post with his kick, as Japan ended up losing the shoot-out 5–4 .

expressive style of dally [edit ]

A technically and creatively gifted actor, [ 54 ] Kagawa is a versatile attacking midfielder who chiefly plays in a playmaking function. He can additionally play on either the impart or right flank. [ 55 ] Kagawa has good composure on the ball and disciplined decisiveness make and run. [ 56 ] He is an agile player who tends to roam around the opponents ‘ defense looking for an intelligent and creative pass or through testis. [ 57 ] He has great attacking play both on and off the ball. He besides has big attacking positioning which allows him to have one of the best eyes for goal. [ 58 ] possibly his best qualities are his agility, passing discipline, creativity, positioning during attack and the ability to pick out a key pass. He ‘s reasonably flying and can attack and score goals himself. Whilst playing for Japan, he has played in a bequeath midfield, or a central attacking midfield role. [ 59 ]

career statistics [edit ]

club [edit ]

As of match played 12 September 2021[60]

International [edit ]

As of 10 June 2019[61]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team
Year
Apps
Goals

Japan
2008
6
1

2009
4
1

2010
7
1

2011
11
6

2012
9
3

2013
16
4

2014
10
3

2015
14
4

2016
7
4

2017
5
2

2018
6
2

2019
2
0

Total
97
31

Scores and results list Japan’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kagawa goal.[60][62]

Honours [edit ]

Borussia Dortmund
Manchester United
PAOK
Japan
Individual

Notes [edit ]

References [edit ]