Hiroki Sakai

Hiroki Sakai (酒井 宏樹) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a right back for J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds.

Born in Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan, Sakai was introduced to football by his two older brothers and joined a school football team when he was in the third grade of elementary school.

He initially played as a striker before converting to a full back, where he has played since.

Sakai spent 10 years with the school football team before joining Kashiwa Reysol U15 side in 2003.

Sakai progressed through the ranks of the Kashiwa Reysol and learned his guidance under Tatsuma Yoshida.

Eventually, he worked his way through to the U16 and U18 side.

During his progress, Sakai joined Mogi Mirim to study abroad on a short–term, though he said the experience benefited him to improve his right–back and centre–back positions, but returned to Japan in November 2009.

Ahead of the 2010 season, Sakai was promoted to Kashiwa Reysol's first team, where he signed a contract with the club and was given the number 30 shirt.

At the start of the 2010 season, he started out on the substitute bench in number of matches.

It wasn't until on 5 May 2010 when he made his Kashiwa Reysol debut, coming on as a substitute for Yohei Kurakawa in the 77th minute, in a 1–1 draw against Ventforet Kofu.

Sakai then made his first start for the side on 25 July 2010, starting the whole game and set up one of the goals, in a 2–2 draw against JEF United Chiba.

It wasn't until on 31 October 2010 when he scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–1 win over Mito HollyHock.

Although he was featured several times later in the season, Sakai went on to make 12 appearances and scoring once for the side.

Ahead of the 2011 season, the club announced that Sakai were among players to agree to stay at Kashiwa Reysol and was given a number 4 shirt.

However, he missed the start of the season, due to a metatarsal fracture injury, causing to miss six matches.

It wasn't until on 23 April 2011 when Sakai made his first appearance of the season, in a 1–0 win over Omiya Ardija.

Sakai then quickly established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the right–back position.

On 12 May 2011, it was announced that Sakai signed another contract with the club.

Sakai began to set up goals in number of matches for the side, including twice against Kawasaki Frontale on 16 July 2011.

Sakai later helped Kashiwa Reysol win the league and the club lifted the trophy after beating Urawa Red Diamonds 3–2 in the last game of the season.

As a result, the club qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup as part of winning the league.

Sakai played his first match of the tournament, starting the whole game, in the play-off for the quarter–finals, in a 2–0 win over Auckland City.

Sakai then scored in the semi–final, in a 3–1 loss against Santos.

He played four times in the tournament, as Kashiwa Reysol finished fourth place in the FIFA Club World Cup.

At the end of the 2011 season, Sakai was awarded J. League Rookie of the Year and was named in the J. League Best XI.

Despite being sidelined on several occasions later in the season, he made 35 appearances and scoring once in all competitions.

At the start of the 2012 season, Sakai started the season well when he helped Kashiwa Reysol win the Japanese Super Cup by beating FC Tokyo 2–1 on 3 March 2012.

Three days after winning the Japanese Super Cup, he scored his first goal of the season in the AFC Champions League, in a 3–2 loss against Buriram United.

Sakai scored and set up the club's third goal of the game, in a 3–3 draw against Yokohama F. Marinos in the opening game of the season.

He continued to regain his first team place for the side this season, playing in the right–back position.

His third goal of the season then came on 17 April 2012, in a 3–1 loss against Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao in the AFC Champions League.

A month later, on 17 May 2012, Sakai set up two goals, in a 2–1 win over Cerezo Osaka.

His performance attracted interests from clubs in Europe, mostly Germany, as the season progressed.

With his move to Hannover 96 reached an agreement, Sakai made his last appearance for the club, which came on 30 June 2012, in a 6–2 win over Gamba Osaka.

After his departure, he was given a farewell sendoff following an end of Kashiwa Reysol's match.

Despite missing out one match by the time of his departure, Sakai went on to make 23 appearances and scoring 3 times in all competitions this season.

It was announced on 13 June 2012 that Hannover 96 agreed to sign Sakai from Kashiwa Reysol.

However, at the start of the 2012–13 season, Sakai missed several matches, due to international commitment with Japan and his own injury concerns.

It was later confirmed with Sakai signing a four–year contract with the club, keeping him until 2016.

The transfer reportedly cost 1 million euro (100 million yen).