Shinji Kagawa: 'Japan can win Confederations Cup'

Shinji Kagawa has said that Japan are aiming to win at the Confederations Cup in Brazil.

The tournament, held the year before every World Cup as a rehearsal for the host nation, gets underway tomorrow.

The Manchester United midfielder told FIFA.com: "Our opponents are all excellent teams, so this will be a good gauge of how we can perform away from home with a year to go until the World Cup.

"We need this sort of preparation, and I want to see how we handle the atmosphere and how far we can go. We're going there to win, so the question will be how we can achieve that. That's my mind-set going into this tournament.

"All the teams have many fantastic players, and each team has its own individual style. Our defence and attack need to be in sync, and even then we won't win unless we work hard. But this is why I play the game, and I can't wait to get stuck in."

Japan play the opening fixture of the tournament against Brazil tomorrow.