Shinji Kagawa

Shinji Kagawa
香川真司

Kagawa with Borussia Dortmund in 2011
Personal information
Full name Shinji Kagawa
Date of birth 17 March 1989 (1989-03-17) (age 22)
Place of birth Tarumi-ku, Kobe, Japan
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder / Second striker
Club information
Current club Borussia Dortmund
Number 23
Youth career
2001–2005 FC Miyagi Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2006–2010 Cerezo Osaka 125 (55)
2010– Borussia Dortmund 32 (12)
National team‡
2007 Japan U18 3 (1)
2006–2008 Japan U19 8 (2)
2007 Japan U20 6 (0)
2008 Japan U23 6 (1)
2008– Japan 27 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 October 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 October 2011

Shinji Kagawa (香川 真司 Kagawa Shinji?) (born 17 March 1989) is a Japanese footballer who plays for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. He previously played for Cerezo Osaka. He has been capped by Japan at international level.[1]

Contents

Club career

Kagawa started playing football in his primary school years. He joined Kobe NK Football Club and later moved to FC Miyagi Barcelona in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture.[2] Cerezo Osaka quickly 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 high school, except players promoted from youth teams of the J. League clubs.[3] In 2007, he gained a regular position but the club missed the promotion to the J. League Division 1.

By mid-2010, Kagawa was represented with a sports agency run by retired German professional footballer Thomas Kroth, which ultimately handled his transfer to Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund

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 release clause in Kagawa's contract with Cerezo, which allowed him to leave the club cheaply if he had an opportunity to play in Europe.[4]

On 23 August 2010, he made his debut appearance in the German Bundesliga, starting for his new club Borussia Dortmund. After scoring his first two competitive goals for the club in the Europa League qualifying tie against Qarabağ Ağdam, he continued this form with his first goal in the Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg, which Dortmund won 2–0.[5] In the Revierderby against archrival Schalke 04, which Dortmund won 3–1, Kagawa said pre-match that he would score two goals, he then went on to score twice, making him one of the fans' favorites.[6]

Kagawa missed half of the Bundesliga season because of an injury he picked up on international duty, but managed to score 8 goals in 18 appearances. His strong effort in the first half of the season helped his side finish as champions of the Bundesliga and he was even named in the Bundesliga Best XI.[7]

Kagawa was back in time for the start of the 2011–12 Bundesliga campaign and quickly found his way back into the starting line-up. Kagawa scored his first goal of the new Bundesliga season on 18 September, coming in a disappointing 2–1 loss to Hannover 96, as his side gave up two goals in the last three minutes.[8] On 22 October, Kagawa opened the scoring in the 7th minute as Dortmund crushed 1. FC Köln 5–0 in front of 80,200 home fans at the Signal Iduna Park.[9] Kagawa scored again on 5 November, as Dortmund brushed aside Wolfsburg 5–1 and moved within two points of league leaders Bayern Munich. He scored a late consolation against Arsenal FC in a 2-1 loss.[10]

International career

Kagawa played as a member of the Japan national under-20 football team in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada.[11]

In 2008 he was also selected to play as a member of the Japanese team for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[12] On 24 May 2008 he made his senior international debut in a friendly Kirin Cup match. Japan won the match against Côte d'Ivoire 1–0. He was not selected in Takeshi Okada's final 23 squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. In September 2010 he scored the only goal of the game in Japan's 1–0 win over Paraguay in Yokohama.[13] It took Kagawa five months to rehab his injury from the AFC Asia Cup. He returned in Dortmund's final game as a substitute in the 87th minute.

2011 AFC Asian Cup

He was included in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup by coach Alberto Zaccheroni.[14] In the quarterfinals against Qatar, he scored 2 goals. The game ended 3-2, a win for Japan.[15] In the semi-final against South Korea, Kagawa broke his metatarsal[16] and missed the final where Japan beat Australia after extra-time.

Career statistics

Club

Statistics accurate as of match played 20 October 2011[17][18]

Club Season League League Cup1 League Cup2 Continental3 Other4 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cerezo Osaka 2006 J1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - 0 0
2007 J2 35 5 1 2 - - - 36 7
2008 35 16 0 0 - - - 35 16
2009 44 27 0 0 - - - 44 27
2010 J1 11 7 - 1 0 - - 12 7
Total 125 55 1 2 1 0 - - 127 57
Borussia Dortmund 2010–11 Bundesliga 18 8 2 0 - 8 4 - 28 12
2011–12 15 4 2 1 - 6 1 1 0 24 6
Total 33 12 4 1 - 14 5 1 0 52 18
Career total 158 67 5 3 1 0 14 5 1 0 179 75

1Includes Emperor's Cup and DFB-Pokal.

2Includes J. League Cup.

3Includes UEFA Europa League qualification and UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League.

4Includes DFL-Supercup.

International

As of 6 September 2011
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan U18
2007 3 1
Total 3 1
Japan U19
2006 2 0
2008 6 2
Total 8 2
Japan U20
2007 6 0
Total 6 0
Japan U23
2008 6 1
Total 6 1
Japan
2008 6 1
2009 4 1
2010 7 1
2011 11 6
Total 28 9

Awards and honours

Japan

Club

Borussia Dortmund

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Football : Shinji Kagawa". Footballdatabase.eu. http://www.footballdatabase.eu/football.joueurs.shinji.kagawa.36521.en.html. Retrieved November 5, 2011. 
  2. ^ "Shinji Kagawa – Player's History" (in Japanese). J-League Pro-Footballers Association. http://www.j-leaguers.net/special/history/file023.html. Retrieved 13 May 2010. 
  3. ^ Jack Bell (November 13, 2010). "Japanese Whirlwind Kagawa Propelling Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga". New York Times. http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/japanese-whirlwind-kagawa-propelling-borussia-dortmund-in-bundesliga/. Retrieved November 5, 2011. 
  4. ^ "http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=831418&sec=europe&root=europe&cc=3888". ESPN Soccernet. October 12, 2010. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=831418&sec=europe&root=europe&cc=3888/. Retrieved November 10, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Ballack injured as 10-man Hanover hold Bayer". Bangkok Post. 11 September 2010. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/195794/ballack-injured-as-10-man-hanover-hold-bayer. Retrieved 11 September 2010. 
  6. ^ "Schalke 1-3 Borussia Dortmund: Prophetic Kagawa At The Double For BVB". Goal.com. 2010-09-19. http://www.goal.com/en-us/match/46585/schalke-04-vs-borussia-dortmund/report. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
  7. ^ http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15076759,00.html
  8. ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=320991&cc=5901
  9. ^ http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/60749/borussia-dortmund-vs-1-fc-k%C3%B6ln/report
  10. ^ http://www.bundesliga.de/en/liga/tabelle/index.php
  11. ^ "Shinji Kagawa U-20 2007 World Cup Canada 2007_Shinji Kagawa". ShinjiKagawa.info. http://shinjikagawa.info/html/Video_clips_of_Shinji_Kagawa/2011/1027/Shinji_Kagawa_FIFA_U_20_World_Cup_Canada_2007_266266.html. Retrieved November 5, 2011. 
  12. ^ "Beijing Olympic Players in Home Nation Domestic Leagues". The Best Eleven. November 5, 2011. http://www.thebesteleven.com/2008/08/beijing-olympic-players-in-home-nation.html. 
  13. ^ Japan 1–0 Paraguay: Shinji Kagawa Strike Gives Blue Samurai Measure Of Revenge Goal.com, 4 September 2010
  14. ^ "Shinji Kagawa (Japan) 2011 AFC Asian Cup: Players to Watch". FOX Sports. 
  15. ^ "Japan 3-2 Qatar: Kagawa Double Helps Knock Out Spirited Hosts". Goal.com. January 21, 2011. http://www.goal.com/en/match/55800/japan-vs-qatar/report. Retrieved November 6, 2011. 
  16. ^ Injured Shinji Kagawa could be out for the season ESPN.com, 26 January 2011
  17. ^ Japan - Shinji Kagawa - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway
  18. ^ Shinji Kagawa > Club matches worldfootball.net
  19. ^ a b c "ポルトガル遠征" (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. http://www.jfa.or.jp/archive/daihyo/u_20/games/2007/others_2007/portuguese/index.html. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  20. ^ "国際親善試合 ～北京で勝つための戦いが、始まる。～ U-23日本代表 対 アンゴラ代表" (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. http://www.jfa.or.jp/archive/daihyo/u_23/games/2008/others_2008/080327/index.html. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  21. ^ "国際親善試合 U-23日本代表　対　U-23オーストラリア代表 ゲームレポート" (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. http://www.jfa.or.jp/archive/daihyo/u_23/games/2008/others_2008/080724/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  22. ^ "キリンチャレンジカップ2008 ～ALL FOR 2010!～ U-23日本代表　対　U-23アルゼンチン代表 ゲームレポート" (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. http://www.jfa.or.jp/archive/daihyo/u_23/games/2008/kcc_2008/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  23. ^ "キリンチャレンジカップ2008 日本 1–1 アラブ首長国連邦代表" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20081009/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  24. ^ "キリンチャレンジカップ2008 日本 3–1 シリア" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20081113/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  25. ^ "キリンチャレンジカップ2009 日本 5–1 フィンランド" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20090204/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  26. ^ "キリンチャレンジカップ2010 日本 0–0 ベネズエラ" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20100202/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  27. ^ "KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2010 日本 1–0 パラグアイ" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20100904/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  28. ^ "KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2010 日本 2–1 グアテマラ" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20100907/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  29. ^ "キリンチャレンジカップ2010_1008_アルゼンチン" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20101008/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  30. ^ "国際親善試合2010_1012_韓国" (in Japanese). samuraiblue.jp. http://samuraiblue.jp/timeline/20101012/. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  31. ^ "Japan vs. Korea Republic". Soccerway. http://www.soccerway.com/matches/2011/08/10/world/friendly/japan/korea-republic/1089772/. Retrieved 10 August 2011. 

External links
Borussia Dortmund – current squad