Turkey-based Gulum named in preliminary Australia squad

Turkey-based Australia-born defender Ersan Gulum has been included in the preliminary 50-man Australia squad for next month’s Asian Cup in Qatar, the AAP reported on Wednesday.



Last month the 23-year-old was called up by Turkey's Dutch coach and former Australia boss Guus Hiddink for the friendly against the Netherlands, despite having also played for the Australia youth team.However the Besiktas defender was not used in the match and is thus eligible to play for the country of his birth.The squad will be trimmed to 23 players on Dec. 28 for the Jan 7-29 tournament.