A place in the national team be it for Women or Men is not permanent , surely not guaranteed and players usually have to fight to prove their worth basically every time.
However, Margaret Belemu, The Copper Queens right back seems to have locked down that position in Coach Bruce Mwape’s squad.
Belemu is one of the Copper Queen’s star players and is currently employed as a Civilian under the Zambia Airforce (ZAF).
She is one of the few players that have consistently shown progression from the lower ranks to desirable positions in the women’s game.
The 25 year old is a constant fixture in Mwape’s squad wearing jersey number eight and usually with neatly done long and mostly flamboyant hair.
She has been one of the most consistent players in the Copper Queens’ squad in the last three plus years thanks to her brilliance both on and off the ball.
Belemu started playing football over 12 years ago during her school days in Kalingalinga before moving to Lusaka Foundation two years later.
“I started playing football in 2009 at school. My uncle Mr. Belemu introduced me to football he was managing a school team called Jesus Army and currently called Yasa queens,” Belemu told the ZamFoot Crew in an exclusive interview.
She recently penned a two year deal with Chinese Taiping Women’s Super League side, Shanghai Shengli but her career has not been as smooth as it seems now.
Belemu has hard to work twice as hard to prove that she belongs in football as most Zambians had the notion that it was a sport for men.
“It’s not easy because a lot of people think that only a man can play football but I convince them by working hard,” she said.
“My everyday prayer is to see football in Zambia improving mostly when it comes to women. I am very happy that women football is improving every day meaning very soon sponsors will come on board,” she added.
The former National Assembly player like many others had to work hard to gain the support of those around her including her mother who was not a big fan of her playing soccer initially.
Belemu dreams of being a coach when she hangs up her boots and wants to study Physiotherapy.
“The time that I started playing football only my Dad was in support he was the one buying me boots and everything that I needed to use and mum wasn’t because she wanted me to concentrate more at school, so what I did was to balance school with football so that I could gain her support which I did.”
“My plans are, to be a coach one day and I also want to study physiotherapy,” she added.
Belemu was part of the Copper Princesses’ squad that played in the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.
Belemu was also a valuable member of the Copper Queens squad that scooped silver and bronze medals at the 2019 and 2021 COSAFA Women’s Championships respectively.
Belemu was also vital in the road to making history by qualifying to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and also played at the tournament.
The pacy right back is part of coach Bruce Mwape’s 23-Member squad that is currently in Morocco for the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The 12th edition of the WAFCON will run from 2-23 July 2022 and the Copper Queens are placed in Group B alongside old times Cameroon whom they will face on 3rd July before taking on Tunisia who are making a return after a 14-year absence 3 days later and wrapping up their group match debutants Togo on 9th July.
The semi-finalists from this tournament will automatically earn themselves a spot at next year’s World Cup to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand while two quarter-finalists will play in the inter-continental Play-Offs to fight for another spot for the World’s biggest women’s showpiece.
She’s one of my favorite players in the women’s team.