The Zambia Women’s National Team will be without wingback Margaret Belemu and forward Ochumba Lubanji in the 2024 WAFCON qualifiers.
The Copper Queens will face Angola in the first leg of the WAFCON qualifiers on November 27, 2023. The second leg will take place on December 12, 2023, in Lusaka or Ndola.
They will later take on Ghana’s Black Queens in a home-and-away Olympic Games qualifier on February 19 and 28.
Belemu last played for Zambia in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023. She played 90 minutes in that Group C match, which they won 3-1 over Costa Rica.
The wingback, who is in the books of Chinese Women’s Super League club Shanghai Shengli, was a key member of Zambia’s squad at the 2022 Africa Cup, where they finished third to qualify for the World Cup.
She is one of the team’s most experienced players, having also competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Meanwhile, Ochumba, on the other hand, last featured for the Copper Queens in September in a friendly match against Morocco.
The Red Arrows FC striker was left out of the squad that went to the 2023 Cosafa Women’s Championship.
BolaNews sources have since revealed that the two are likely to be out for the next five months.
“The two players have been recruited by Zambia Air Force and are currently undergoing military training,” a source told BolaNews.
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The Zambia Airforce training takes about six months for soldiers and at least a year for officers.
Bruce Mwape now has the task to look for replacements for the two experienced players as he has crucial fixtures ahead.
