Kagawa Shinji was born 17 March 1989 Kagawa began his professional career in his homeland 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.A goal-scoring midfielder, he is known for his “vision, technique, movement and deft passing.”
Kagawa holds the records for most appearances and goals by a Japanese player in UEFA club competitions.
Since making his senior international debut in May 2008, he has won over 80 caps. On 29 November 2012, Kagawa was named Asian Football Confederation International Player of the Year.
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.
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 game in Japan’s win over Paraguay in Yokohama.
Kagawa was included in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. In the quarter-final against Qatar, he scored two goals. The game ended in 3–2 win for Japan.
In the semi-final against South Korea, Kagawa broke his metatarsal bone and missed the final where Japan beat Australia after extra-time.
Kagawa was named in Japan’s 23-man squad for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and scored the second goal 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 little impact as the “Samurai Blue” was eliminated at the group stage.
At the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Kagawa scored Japan’s second goal during a 2–0 defeat of Jordan in the group stage and was named as man of the match.
Kagawa participated in Japan’s quarter-final match against the United Arab Emirates. After the match ended 1–1 after extra time, Kagawa, who was Japan’s final kicker in the penalty shoot-out, missed his kick, shooting into the goalpost, as Japan ended up losing the shoot-out 5–4.
A technically and creatively gifted player, Kagawa is a versatile attacking midfielder who primarily plays in a playmaking role. He can additionally play on either the left or right flank.
Kagawa has good composure on the ball and disciplined decision making and passing. He is an agile player who tends to roam around the opponents’ defense looking for an intelligent and creative pass or through ball.
He has great attacking play both on and off the ball. He also has great attacking positioning which allows him to have one of the best eyes for goal.
Perhaps his best qualities are his agility, passing discipline, creativity, positioning during attack and the ability to pick out a key pass. He’s fairly quick and can attack and score goals himself. On some occasions for the national team, he has played in a left midfield, or in an attacking midfield role