Four years after learning the hard way his soccer skills would not translate into a professional career in the J. League, Ryu Sakai made the grade as an interpreter.
Among the unsung heroes working in the background to help the players deliver their best performance, interpreters play a particularly vital role in keeping teams whose players and coaches come from various nations functioning as one on and off the pitch.
That is what Sakai, a 27-year-old Japanese, is now doing after landing his first gig as an English-Japanese interpreter for J1 side Sagan Tosu last season.