Teammates bid farwell to Belgium’s Malanda

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Both the Belgium and VfL Wolfsburg squads gathered in Brussels on Tuesday to attend the funeral of Belgian Under-21 international Junior Malanda, who was killed in a car crash.
Malanda died instantly when he was catapulted from the back seat of the car he was a passenger in on January 10 having not used his seatbelt. He was 20 years old.
Around 1,300 mourners, many of whom wore a Wolfsburg shirt bearing Malanda’s name, attended his funeral including Chelsea’s Eden Hazard.
Having joined Wolfsburg from Belgium side Zulte Waregem in July 2013, Malanda made 10 appearances for Wolves in the Bundesliga this season before the tragic accident.
The fatal car crash occurred while the attacking midfielder was en route to join the Wolfsburg squad before flying to South Africa for a scheduled training camp.
The start of Wolfsburg’s training camp in Port Elizabeth was delayed in the wake of Malanda’s death.
German police are investigating the 20-year-old driver of the car Malanda was thrown from on suspicion of manslaughter, as the car was travelling at high speeds in wet conditions at the time.
The German Football League (DFL) are planning a minute’s silence at all Bundesliga grounds, according to German daily Die Welt, when the league resumes on Friday January 30 when Wolfsburg host run-away league leaders Bayern Munich.