Kagawa Shinji (33) decided to return to the Japanese J-League in the aftermath of an injury.
At a press conference on his return to Cerezo Osaka held on the 5th, Kagawa said, “I had the idea of playing in Europe only until the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He explained that he did not have any special plans after the World Cup.”
“But after the World Cup, I got injured and underwent surgery. He thought that now was the right time to return to Japan, so he returned to Cerezo Osaka.” Kagawa continues his career in Japan 12 and a half years after leaving Cerezo Osaka and moving to Dortmund메이저놀이터, Germany in 2010.
Kagawa is not a member of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He was not called up to the national team after a friendly match in March 2019. He did not personally announce his retirement. In an interview nine months before the opening of the World Cup in Qatar, “I always dream of participating in the World Cup. When the opportunity comes to me, I will devote myself to the team.”
Kagawa received the number 8 shirt when he was promoted to the starting lineup at Cerezo Osaka in the past. After that, on the European stage, No. 23 (Dortmund), No. 26 (Man United), No. 7 (Dortmund), No. 23 (Besiktas), No. 23 (Real Zaragoza), No. 23 (PAOK Thessaloniki), No. 10 (Sint Trawiddon), in order. number was chosen.
And this time, I returned to Cerezo Osaka and picked number 8 again. Regarding this, “Number 8 in Cerezo Osaka is a very meaningful number. It is an honor to inherit the uniform number used by team legend Hiroaki Morishima (50). He promised to do his best thinking about the weight.”
He also said, “I usually wore number 10 in the Japanese national team, but senior Morishima also wore number 10 in the national team. He added that his heart is heavy and grateful that he was handed the number of a senior.
Cerezo Osaka is a team that ranked 5th among 18 teams in the J1 League in the 2022 season. The difference between the third place and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) was only four points. Cerezo Osaka, along with the returning Kagawa, set a goal to compete in the ACL next year by finishing in the top 3 this season.
Cerezo Osaka is a team familiar to domestic fans as well. This is because they had two Korean goalkeepers. Kim Jin-hyun has been active as a one-club man for Cerezo Osaka since 2009. Yang Han-bin leaves FC Seoul this winter and transfers to Cerezo Osaka and eats rice with Kim Jin-hyun. In the past, Kim Bo-kyung also played for Cerezo Osaka.