[url]en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinji_Kagawa[/url]
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 (age 23) Place of birth Kobe , Japan Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄ 2 in)[1] 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 48 (21) National team ‡ 2006-2008 Japan U19 [2] 4 (0) 2007 Japan U20 [2] 2 (0) 2008 Japan U23 [2] 3 (0) 2008– Japan 29 (9) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:49, 28 April 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 November 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 and the Japan national football team . 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 .[3] 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. [4] 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 Kagawa celebrates winning the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2011 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. [5] 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 , he continued this form with his first goal in the Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg , which Dortmund won 2–0. [6] 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. [7] 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. [8] 2011–12 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. [9] 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 . [10] 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 in the group stags of the Champions League. On 28 January 2012, Kagawa scored twice in Dortmund's 3–1 win against Hoffenheim . Kagawa scored the only goal of the game against Werder Bremen on 17 March, heading in a pass from İlkay Gündoğan in the 8th minute. [11] Kagawa scored two goals in Dortmund's 6-1 thrashing of Cologne on 25 March, keeping his side 5 points ahead of Bayern in the title race. [12] Kagawa added the second goal of a 2-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach on 21 April, to secure Dortmund's eight Bundesliga title and second in succession. On 28 april 2012 kagawa signed for Manchester United. [13]