Kagawa keen to prove a point

Shinji Kagawa has urged his Japan team-mates to show their quality at the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

The Manchester United playmaker is set to feature in his first World Cup over the next few weeks, with Japan grouped alongside Colombia, Greece and Ivory Coast.

Together with the likes of Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki and Yuto Nagatomo, Kagawa will be expected to play a key role as his nation seek to at least equal their previous best display of reaching the last 16.

The former Borussia Dortmund man is eager to show the strength of Japanese football in Brazil, and Alberto Zaccheroni’s men can take confidence from scoring eight goals in their three warm-up matches.

“This is my first World Cup to contend, all we have to do is be fully prepared for our first game,” said Kagawa.

“Since Japan is little known in football in the world, we want to play good football and make a huge impact so that we can make the world realise the presence of (the) Japan international football team.

“Personally, scoring goals creates confidence and I gain the mental stability and get poised from it. And I would like to go into our first game with strength and need to be well prepared to do so.”

Kagawa has struggled to regularly hit top form at Old Trafford, having initially caught the eye at Dortmund where he won two league titles and the DFB-Pokal.

The 25-year-old believes he faces different expectations at United, compared to those he has to deal with at international level.

“I personally think it is a completely different kind of pressure,” he explained.

“When playing for Japan, it means that I carry my country on my shoulders and I feel a different kind of pressure as I am expected (to do) more when playing for Japan.”