Four years after learning the hard way his soccer skills would not translate into a professional career in Japan's J-League, Ryu Sakai has 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. "I want to beco...
