![\"Vince](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4c384ba1d5167f701ee861d4745545e2fa6211b6.png\")
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April 2, 2026 \u2014 12:07pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Ersan Gulum watched the Socceroos play Curacao on Tuesday night<\/a>, then, a few hours later, huddled around a television with about 100 other Turks to watch what was, for them, the main event of the week.<\/p>\n The name might ring a few bells. Born and raised in Melbourne, Gulum was eligible to represent either Turkey, the land of his heritage, or Australia<\/a>. His first international call-up came from Guus Hiddink \u2013 but in 2010, when the Australian football favourite was in charge of Turkey.<\/p>\n Gulum did not play in that window, and then, despite interest from the Socceroos, missed Holger Osieck\u2019s squad for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The following year, Turkey called him up again \u2013 at the time, he was playing for Besiktas, one of the country\u2019s biggest clubs, which made it difficult for him to say no.<\/p>\n Seven caps later, Gulum is best remembered alongside Christian Vieri, Josip Simunic and \u2013 maybe one day \u2013 Cristian Volpato<\/a> and Adrian Segecic<\/a> as the ones who got away from Australia.<\/p>\n So when the Socceroos face Turkey in their World Cup opener on June 13, Gulum\u2019s allegiance is clear.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be going for Turkey,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in all other games, I\u2019ll be supporting Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n Gulum, now 38 and retired, these days is president of NPL Victoria\u2019s Hume City FC, the biggest Turkish club in Australia. It was at their clubhouse where he joined other members of the diaspora, chowing down breakfast toasties as they watched Turkey defeat Kosovo 1-0 and confirm their place in Group D<\/a> at the World Cup with the United States, Paraguay and the Socceroos.<\/p>\n By rankings, Turkey (No.22 in the world) was the least desirable of the four possible qualifiers from an Australian perspective.<\/p>\n But those who fear them might have it backwards, because Gulum reckons Turkey won\u2019t be looking forward to playing the Socceroos.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cAustralia is going to be a well-drilled, organised team. That\u2019s credit to Tony Popovic. There\u2019s something about them, definitely.<\/p>\n \u201cI enjoyed watching Australia play \u2026 I couldn\u2019t say that before that, I think. Popa\u2019s done an amazing job. He\u2019s got them playing disciplined football. It\u2019s not going to be easy to break them down \u2013 every team that plays Australia is going to [find it] tough.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of self-belief there as well, and there\u2019s a few key players \u2026 a squad that can turn the game when it\u2019s required.\u201d<\/p>\n Turkey have plenty of those, too \u2013 more in their current squad than Gulum can ever recall. The standout is Arda Guler, the 21-year-old Real Madrid star, whose assist for Turkey\u2019s goal in their preliminary qualifier against Romania showcased his ability to pull rabbits out of hats.<\/p>\n But the Socceroos can\u2019t put too much focus on shutting him down when there are other threats, such as Inter Milan\u2019s Hakan \u00c7alhano\u011flu, their captain, plus Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz, one of the world\u2019s best young players, and Bar\u0131\u015f Yilmaz of Galatasaray.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s best chance, Gulum believes, is working as a unit to spoil their opponents, limit their chances, grind them down and then strike at the right moment.<\/p>\n The 5-1 win over Curacao<\/a>, an admittedly lower-calibre side, was almost that exact scenario: while the Socceroos struggled for fluency in the first hour, the decision to send on Nestory Irankunda<\/a>, Jordan Bos and Riley McGree all at once changed the game.<\/p>\n While some Socceroos fans would prefer to see more enterprise from Popovic\u2019s team, Gulum can see what he\u2019s trying to do with his back five formation.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Australia plays defensive, they tire them down mentally, physically, they get the opposition frustrated,\u201d Gulum said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThen they look to leave more holes in their backline because they\u2019re trying to score, right? And then you put on these key players that are fresh, young and explosive. I\u2019m not a coach, but just viewing, you could get that idea of what he\u2019s trying to enforce. He\u2019s embedding that into the team, and it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s win over Kosovo was not exactly champagne football; Gulum could see players struggling under the weight of playing for a nation of 86 million obsessives, as he once experienced. This World Cup will be their first since 2002.<\/p>\n![\"Ersan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2537c5e5850b2a3045b82868ada7101c543d77df12e84ef0134639915442f1b0.jpeg\")
Ersan Gulum in his heyday for Turkey.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Zeki](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5d91ad2c0b01bb97a565081907685ea2403f1faf.jpeg\")
Zeki Celik, Arda Guler and Mert Muelduer celebrate Turkey\u2019s qualification for the World Cup.Getty Images<\/p>\n
![\"Iraq\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/907cfa6e18f8d4166f22e33ae694242d42da89bc.jpeg\")
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