Shinji Kagawa Profile

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.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^. 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^.
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. 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.
Kagawa missed half of the Bundesliga season because of an injury he picked up on international duty, but managed to score eight 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.
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. On 22 October, Kagawa opened the scoring in the seventh minute as Dortmund crushed 1. FC Köln 5–0 in front of 80,200 home fans at the Signal Iduna Park.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 in a 2–1 loss. On 28 January 2012, Kagawa scored twice in Dortmund's 3–1 win against Hoffenheim.

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.
In 2008 he was also selected to play as a member of the Japanese team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. 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.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.In the quarterfinals against Qatar, he scored two goals. The game ended 3–2, a win for Japan.In the semi-final against South Korea, Kagawa broke his metatarsal and missed the final where Japan beat Australia after extra-time.

Personal information
Full name	Shinji Kagawa
Date of birth	17 March 1989 (age 22)
Place of birth	Tarumi-ku, Kobe, Japan
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
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	39	(16)
National team
2006–2008	Japan U19	4	(0)
2007	Japan U20	2	(0)
2008	Japan U23	3	(0)
2008–	Japan	29	(9)

More info about Shinji Kagawa
Contract until:	30.06.2013
Home page:	www.kagawashinji.com/english/
Last international game:	29.02.2012 for Japan under Alberto Zaccheroni against Usbekistan

Performance data of current season

Competition		Matches	Goals	Assists			Minutes
	1.Bundesliga	21	8	8	1	12	1677
	Champions League	6	1	-	2	3	354
	DFB-Pokal	3	2	1	-	3	236
	DFL-Supercup	1	-	-	-	-	120
Total:		31	11	9	3	18	2387

Injury history

Season	from	to	Injury
11/12	15.02.2012	21.02.2012	Raptured Ankle Ligament
11/12	19.12.2011	21.12.2011	Gastric problems
10/11	25.01.2011	07.05.2011	Metatarsal fracture