A FORMER midfielder for Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana, Jayden “Grootman” Adams, still wanted to see himself one day playing for Liverpool FC playing in the English Premier League.
Adams (25) passed away on Saturday.
The sudden passing of Adams has left many South African football fans in shock. According to a police report, his body was found in a house on Military Road, Schotsche Klopp, Cape Town, on Saturday morning.
The cause of death of the player who was part of the national team, Bafana Bafana, which was playing in the ongoing Fifa World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States of America (USA) is not yet known. The police have opened an investigation docket on the cause of his death.
Adams, who hails from Cloetesville township, Stellenbosch, is one of the players trained at Stellenbosch FC’s nursery school. He was in the DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) team that won the league title in 20222, went on to the United Kingdom and competed in the Premier League Next Gen Cup. He was promoted to the main Stellies scheme for the 2022/2023 season.
His prominence and showing of maturity in the Stellies, with whom he won the Carling Knockout title in 2023, caught the attention of the big teams in Gauteng, including Sundowns, who finally signed him for the 2024/2025 season.
Adams, who was the engine of the midfield, won two titles in the two seasons at Sandawana, namely the Betway Premiership and the Caf Champions League, before joining Bafana’s flight to the World Cup.
In four matches for Bafana in the World Cup, he started two and came off the bench in the other.
Showing the development of Adams and his performance in the World Cup, there is no doubt that it was bringing him closer to realizing his dream of playing in Europe.
“My dream is that one day I will play in Europe. I want to play for Liverpool FC,” said Adams in one of the videos recorded while playing in Stellenbosch.
“When I’m going to play a big game, I tell myself that I’m going to go on the field and take off my hair, do everything I can. Before starting the warm-up for the start of the game, I pray, I do thevideo call to my daughter, and to my parents.”
His death has affected many, including his colleagues in football.
Oswin Appolis, the star of Orlando Pirates and Bafana, who is Adams’ family as he also hails from the Western Cape, expressed his condolences on the death of this player.
“He will wipe the tears from their eyes. There will be no more crying because the first time has passed. I love you brother, rest in peace. I will always miss you,” said Appolis, writing on his social media page.
Bafana striker, Lyle Foster, wrote: “The war is over brother. I love you. Rest, thank you for the happiness you have given to all people.”
The mother of Adams’s friend, Aqueelah Andendorf, wrote on social media that part of her went with this game that was still a lot of attention for her in Mzansi.