Mamelodi Sundowns midfield maestro Jayden Adams has opened up on the Bafana Bafana controversy that led to his exclusion from the national squad for several months.
Adams allegedly pulled a no-show for Bafana in October 2024 ahead of the Back-to-back 2025 AFCON qualifiers against Congo Brazzaville.
As a result, the talented midfielder was withdrawn from the national team, and he was frozen out of the team for a handful of months after Bafana coach Hugo Broos deemed his attitude to be poor.
Broos also slammed Adams’ ‘bad behaviour’ before recently calling him back to the team. The Cape Town-born midfielder returned to Bafana in March 2025 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin.
Adams’ return to the South African senior national team came after the 23-year-old produced impressive performances for Mamelodi Sundowns.
The central-midfielder joined the Brazilians during the 2025 January transfer window from Stellenbosch FC and quickly established himself as one of the key players at the club.
So far at Masandawana, Adams has featured in 17 matches across all competitions, scored three goals and provided two assists.
WHAT JAYDEN ADAMS SAID ABOUT THE BAFANA BAFANA CONTROVERSY
Adams has reflected on his Bafana absence, revealing that he got his punishment from Hugo Broos and learned his lesson.
“My return for Bafana Bafana didn’t feel like I was out for a while. Everyone welcomed me like I wasn’t out,” said Adams. “The coach [Broos] did punish me, so I got my punishment. When I went back, my performance didn’t give the coach a reason to leave me out of the team.
“I also think this was an eye-opener for me to do better and to fix my attitude. Now I’m in a big team [Sundowns] and everything is fine.”
The former SA junior international was on the scoresheet for Bafana Bafana in the two matches against Lesotho and Benin, which they won with 2-0 scorelines.
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