FORMER England defender Steven Caulker has switched his national allegiance to represent Sierra Leone, Fifa have confirmed.
The 29-year-old ex-Tottenham and Liverpool defender is now set to be selected for Africa Cup of Nations duty.
Caulker is eligible to play for Sierra Leona as his paternal grandfather hails from the West African country.
Sierra Leon’s FA president Thomas Daddy Brima told BBC Sport Africa: “I can confirm that the player’s status chamber of Fifa has just cleared Caulker to represent Sierra Leone.”
He is eligible to switch allegiances after his one cap for England was in a friendly against Sweden, all the way back in 2012.
Caulker scored for the Three Lions that night in a 4-2 loss, but the game is best remembered for Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s gravity-defying overhead kick.
The defender turns 30 before the Africa Cup of Nations is scheduled to start in Cameroon on January 9.
The competition is set to go ahead as planned, despite fears over the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19.
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Sierra Leone are drawn in a group alongside Algeria, Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea.
Caulker currently plays in Turkey with Gaziantep, on loan from Fenerbahce.
He played 18 times for Spurs between 2009 and 2013.
Jurgen Klopp made the bizarre decision to sign Caulker on loan from QPR in 2016 for cover at the back.
But in Caulker’s three appearances for Liverpool he spent most of his time playing up front, being sent on as a striker to try and salvage games.
Caulker has also spent time with the likes of Cardiff and Southampton before moving to Turkey in 2019.
He initially signed for Alanyaspor, before joining Fenerbahce earlier this year.
But he was sent out on loan to Gaziantep before playing a game for his new club.
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