Sundowns Coach Miguel Cardoso Pens Emotional Tribute to Late Jayden Adams
- Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso shared a heartfelt letter honouring midfielder Jayden Adams, who passed away on Saturday
- Cardoso recalled watching Adams play his final Stellenbosch match and credited the 25-year-old with making him a better coach
- Adams made 62 appearances for Sundowns, won the league and CAF Champions League, and featured for Bafana Bafana at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
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Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso penned a deeply personal tribute to Jayden Adams following the midfielder's death on Saturday morning, describing the 25-year-old as a player who elevated everyone around him and shaped him as a coach.
The Portuguese tactician shared the emotional letter on his Instagram account, reflecting on the journey he shared with Adams since the player joined Sundowns from Stellenbosch FC in January 2025 - just months after Cardoso arrived at Chloorkop in late 2024.
Cardoso recalls watching Adams for the first time
Cardoso described the moment he first saw Adams play, during a match against Stade Malien at Loftus in what turned out to be Adams' final game for Stellenbosch. Cardoso wrote about being struck immediately by the midfielder's intelligence and movement on the pitch.
"Goal! That incredible first post movement you have and beautiful header! Saw you easy, medium pace, reading the pitch and placing accordingly, like you had a GPS and could avoid the traffic!" he wrote.
Cardoso said he arrived at Sundowns speaking highly of Adams as a talented player who would need time to adapt to a fiercely competitive environment, and noted that Adams responded not through words but through consistent work.
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"You worked, you adapted, you understood, you brought yourself in, you played a little everywhere, you smiled, you loved, you enjoyed, you became one of us and us on you," Cardoso wrote.
The coach fondly recalled the small, defining details that made Adams who he was - the toothpick at the corner of his mouth, the socks with flip-flops, and the quiet "yes coach" that followed almost every conversation.
Cardoso on how Adams made him a better coach
Cardoso said Adams had once told him the coach had made him a different player, a comment that left a lasting mark.
''If difference is the quality, you spread everywhere we played, I'm absolutely fulfilled and overwhelmed as a coach! You made me a better coach by the football you helped us to play!" he wrote.
He also placed Adams among footballers whose deaths had affected him deeply throughout his career, naming Miklós Fehér, Maicon, and Emiliano Sala.
Closing his tribute, Cardoso said the club would move forward carrying Adams with them:
"We will, as you surely wished, battle from now on always with twelve men as we'll carry you in our hearts everywhere we'll go."
See the post on Instagram below.
Adams made 62 appearances for Sundowns across all competitions, scoring six goals, and won both the Betway Premiership and the CAF Champions League with the club. He earned 13 senior international caps for Bafana Bafana, contributing two goals and an assist, and was part of the squad that reached the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
His tragic death follows a turbulent time for Adams personally, after his 72-year-old grandmother, Marianna Adams, passed away on 17 June, just one day before he lined up alongside his Bafana teammates to face Czechia in a 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage fixture in Atlanta.
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Source: Briefly News
