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Cape Town - Attending Junior Malanda's funeral next week in Belgium will be emotionally difficult for Wolfsburg's team, captain Diego Benaglio said.
"I don't so much dread the return to Wolfsburg but the day we will be going to the funeral. That will be a difficult step for all of us because you realise only then that this is something final. But it is very important for all of us to be there," Benaglio told the Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung at a training camp in South Africa.
The Wolfsburg midfielder Malanda died on Saturday in a car crash as he was on his way to the team's meeting place for their flight to South Africa.
Wolfsburg delayed the start of their trip by a day and will return on the weekend. A psychologist is with the team. Malanda's funeral is on Tuesday and he has been very much on the mind of everyone.
"We try to concentrate at work (training) and deal with it in a professional way. But the moments when you have time to think and the emotions catch up with you are difficult," the Swiss Benaglio said.
"There are moments in which you can distract yourself. If if you feel like laughing you should do it. The coach (Dieter Hecking) is right here. But that doesn't mean we are forgetting Junior for a second.
"But we must try to get back to normal life. Therefore it was the right decision to fly to South Africa."
Wolfsburg lie second in the Bundesliga and host leaders Bayern Munich when the league restarts on January 30 after the winter break.
