STELLENBOSCH, South Africa -- At Jayden Adams' memorial service in Stellenbosch on Thursday, a video from the former Bafana Bafana midfielder's agency, Forwardzone, was played in which he professed his dream of playing for Liverpool.
Adams - who won the 2025-26 CAF Champions League with Mamelodi Sundowns in May and played for South Africa at the FIFA World Cup in June - was found dead in a Cape Town property on Saturday, July 11, with police investigating the cause.
"My goal is to play in Europe. I would like to play for Liverpool. That's my team, so that's my big-time goal," Adams said in the video shown to mourners on Thursday at the town hall in Stellenbosch, where Adams grew up.
Stellenbosch is around an hour-long drive from the centre of Cape Town. The video featured Adams during his time at local club Stellenbosch FC -- where he had previously become the club's first academy product to sign a professional contract in 2020 -- prior to his January 2025 Mamelodi Sundowns move.
As per video footage aired at the memorial, Adams' father - Juanito Adams - was a Liverpool fan too. Locally, prior to cheering on his son, he had been a Kaizer Chiefs supporter. However, Jayden later became a South African champion in 2024-25 with rivals Sundowns and then followed that up by becoming an African champion the following season.
By the time of his death at the age of 25, he was an integral part of Miguel Cardoso's Sundowns side in a role similar to the one Javier Mascherano played at Liverpool from 2007-2010.
"Jayden's loss will leave a big gap to fill and it's massive shoes to replace. To the family: stick together, draw strength from one another, and continue to celebrate Jayden's life, his career and his successes," Bafana Bafana captain and Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams said in a private memorial service which took place at the Stellenbosch Town Hall prior to the public memorial at the same venue in the evening.
"Jayden was a very quiet and respectful boy. You would sometimes forget that he's in the room, but his smile and his laughter could lighten up any room that he was in.
"As quiet as he was, when it was time to fight, he never backed down."
Adams played in three of Bafana Bafana's four games at the FIFA World Cup as they reached the knockout rounds at a men's World Cup for the first time in history.