Michelle Abueng (born 6 May 2001) is a Motswana

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for Zambian club Yasa FC and the Botswana women's national team. She caught the attention of

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

n club Yasa Queens while playing against

in the

2018 African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament The 2018 African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament was the 6th edition of the African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, the biennial international youth football competition organised by the Confederation of African Footbal ...

, but they were not able to sign her until 2019 since she was still a minor at the time. She scored five goals in a game against Namibia at the 2020 African U-20 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament. She made her senior international debut at the

2019 COSAFA Women's Championship The 2019 COSAFA Women's Championship is the seventh edition of the COSAFA Women's Championship, a women's international football tournament for national teams organised by COSAFA, teams from Southern Africa. It takes place from 31 July to 11 Au ...

on 1 August 2019, scoring the only goal in a win over

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Early Life and Education

Michelle Abueng was born on 6 May 2001 in Botswana. She grew up in the Selibe Phikwe area, specifically in a neighborhood fondly referred to as Distance, where she was raised by her grandmother. Immersed in a football-loving environment especially among the boys in her community, She defied traditional gender expectations and joined in the game from an early age. At 16, while preparing for the African U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers against South Africa in 2017, she suffered a serious training injury. Although her coaches initially feared it could end her budding career, she made a remarkable recovery and, within six months, received her first call-up to the Botswana U-17 national team. She attended Jarmy Christian Academy in Zambia, where she was in Grade 12 during her early years as a professional footballer demonstrating her strong dedication to balancing academics with sports. Michelle Abueng stands at a height of 163 cm and weighs 60 kg.

References

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* * 2001 births Living people People from the Central District (Botswana) Botswana women's footballers Women's association football forwards Botswana women's international footballers Botswana expatriate women's footballers Botswana expatriate sportspeople in Zambia Expatriate women's footballers in Zambia 21st-century Botswana sportswomen {{Botswana-women-footy-bio-stub