Shinji Kagawa

At 35 years old, Shinji Kagawa has this physical status:

Club career

Kagawa was born in Kobe, Hygo Prefecture. At the age of five, he started playing football. He played for Marino Football Club from 1994 to 1999, Kobe NK Football Club from 1999 to 2001, and FC Miyagi Barcelona in Sendai from 2001 to 2005.

Cerezo Osaka discovered his potential and signed him at the age of 17. He was the first player in Japan to sign a professional deal before dropping out of high school, except for players promoted from youth teams of J.League clubs. In 2007, he rose to a regular role, but the club lost promotion to J.League Division 1. He began scoring in 2009 and attracted a lot of notice.

Kagawa moved from Cerezo to Borussia Dortmund for €350,000 in the summer of 2010. The relatively modest cost of the transfer was owing to a release clause in Kagawa's deal with Cerezo, which allowed him to leave the team cheaply if he had the opportunity to play in Europe.

He made his debut in the Bundesliga on August 23, 2010, and his new club Dortmund took over. He continued his good form against Qaraba FK in the UEFA Europa League qualifying match against VfL Wolfsburg, which Dortmund defeated 21-0. Kagawa predicted two goals in the Revierderby against Schalke 04, which Dortmund beat 3-1; it is now a fan favorite in the case.

Kagawa missed half of the Bundesliga season due to a knee injury while in Japan, but he still scored eight goals in 18 appearances. His solid play in the first half of the season helped his side finish as champions of the Bundesliga, and he was also named in the Bundesliga Best XI.

Kagawa returned to action for the 2011-12 Bundesliga season, and he quickly found his way back to the starting lineup. On September 18, Kagawa scored his first goal of the new Bundesliga season after losing by 2–1 to Hannover 96 after Dortmund gave up two goals in the last three minutes. Kagawa opened the scoring in the seventh minute after Dortmund defeated 1. In front of 80,200 home supporters at Signal Iduna Park, FC Köln defeated 0-2. On 5 November, Kagawa scored again as Dortmund defeated VfL Wolfsburg 5-1 to move within two points of league champion Bayern Munich. In a 2–1 loss against Arsenal in the group stage of the Champions League, Kagawa scored a late consolation.

Kagawa scored twice in Dortmund's 3–1 victory over Hoffenheim on January 28, 2012. On March 17, Kagawa scored his only goal of the game against Werder Bremen, winning a pass from lkay Gündoan in the eighth minute. Kagawa scored two goals in Dortmund's 6–1 thrashing of Cologne on March 25th, putting Dortmund five points ahead of Bayern in the title race. Kagawa won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2012, when they posted their highest points in a season in the Bundesliga, with 81 points. In the 2012 DFB-Pokal Final, Kagawa scored a goal and assisted Dortmund against Bayern Munich. During that season, he scored a total of 13 goals and 8 assists.

Manchester United reported on June 5th that the club had reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund and Kagawa for his transfer, making him the first Japanese player to join the club. The fee was estimated to be an initial £12 million, with a further £5 million in potential add-ons. After Kagawa's medical at Manchester United and received his UK work permit, the transfer was completed on June 22nd. On July 3, it was announced that Kagawa would wear the number 26 shirt for United. "I will keep this club, their incredible fans, and the entire city in my heart forever," Kagawa said of his Borussia Dortmund team.

Kagawa made his Manchester United debut against AmaZulu in a pre-season friendly match on July 18, 2012. On July 21, 2012, Kagawa made his first appearance for the Red Devils against Ajax Cape Town, scoring his first goal against Shanghai Shenhua four days later. On August 20, 2012, he made his Premier League debut on August 20, 2012, playing the entire 90 minutes of United's 1–0 loss to Everton. In his home debut for the club, he scored his first goal against Fulham on August 25th. After Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer's parried Tom Cleverley's shot, Kagawa scored from close range. When United defeated Galatasaray on September 19th, Kagawa received his first Champions League debut. In a 1–0 win, Michael Carrick scored the winning goal on a 1–0 win and He had an assist. Javier Hernández was up for his first goal in United's 3-2 Champions League victory over Braga on October 23. However, he twisted his knee, causing him to be sidelined for two months. In January 2013, Kagawa recovered from an injury.

Kagawa scored his first hat-trick for United and also became the first Asian player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League on March 2, 2013 against Norwich City. Kagawa played in the title-winning match against Aston Villa on April 22nd, defeating United 3–0; he became the first Japanese player to win a Premier League title. In Alex Ferguson's last home game before retirement, Kagawa was included in the United squad's match against Swansea City, which United defeated 2–1. Kagawa was named Man of the Match on the same day and received his Premier League medal.

Kagawa officially returned to his former club, Borussia Dortmund, for an undisclosed fee but no one has signed a deal until June 30, 2018. He was given the number 7 shirt, which had been vacated by Jonas Hofmann, who had left Dortmund to 1. Principalz 05 on loan from FSV Mainz. Dortmund beat SC Freiburg 3-1 on their return to action on his return from his World Cup debut. Kagawa scored a goal and set up another to help Dortmund beat them 3-1.

On July 14, 2017, Kagawa extended his contract with Dortmund until 2020.

Kagawa played just four times for Dortmund in the first half of the 2018-19 season due to a mixture of injury and coach Lucien Favre's decision to play Marco Reus as a central attacking midfielder. That resulted in Kagawa's joining Turkish club Beşiktaş on loan for the remainder of the season.

Kagawa completed a transfer to Real Zaragoza, Spain's Segunda División, on August 9, 2019, extending to a two-year contract. He made his debut for the club in the 2019-20 Segment División opener against Tenerife at La Romareda, which Zaragoza won 21-0. In a 1–1 draw against Ponferradina, he scored his first goal.

Kagawa's employment was terminated by Zaragoza on October 2, 2020.

Kagawa joined PAOK, a Greek club, on a one-and-a-half-year deal on January 27, 2021. Despite several chances at the start of the 2021-22 season, Kagawa mutually ended his deal with the club and for no recompense for the remaining six months, on December 20, 2021. Kagawa left PAOK after a year, with only 12 appearances in competitive games of which only three were as a starter.

Kagawa joined the Belgian club Sint-Truiden on January 10-2022.

International career

In the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, Kagawa competed as a member of the Japan under-20 national team.

He was also chosen to compete with the Japan team for the 2008 Summer Olympics in 2008.

He made his senior international debut in a friendly Kirin Cup match on May 24th. The match was won by Japan over the Ivory Coast 1–0. However, he was not selected in Takeshi Okada's final 23 squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In Japan's victory over Paraguay over Yokohama in September 2010, he scored his only goal of the game.

Coach Alberto Zaccheroni had Kagawa participate in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. He scored two goals in the quarter-finals against Qatar. Japan won by 3–2 over the game. Kagawa broke his metatarsal bone in the semi-final against South Korea, missing the final, where Japan defeated Australia after extra time.

Kagawa was selected in Japan's 23-man squad for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and scored his second goal for his country against Italy, which resulted in a 4–3 loss. He was selected for his first World Cup in 2014 but made no difference when the "Samurai Blue" was withdrawn at the group level.

Kagawa scored Japan's second goal after a 2–0 loss of Jordan in the group stage and was named man of the match at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Kagawa was involved in Japan's quarter-final match against the United Arab Emirates in Tokyo. When the match came to an end 1–1, Kagawa, Japan's last kicker in the penalty shoot-out, hit the post with his kick as Japan lost the game 5–4.

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