Sydney FC’s marquee striker Bobo has claimed he’s been hearing about the derby against Western Sydney Wanderers for two months and can’t wait until the opening round of the Hyundai A-League season.
The Sky Blues haven’t lost to crosstown rivals Western Sydney in the past seven meetings ahead of the Round 1 fixture, which will be held at ANZ Stadium for the first time, with ticket sales indicating it will break the A-League’s attendance record of 55,436 quite easily.
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Bobo signed Graham Arnold’s side in August and claims all he’s heard since he arrived in the Harbour City is about the importance of the Sydney derby.
“They’ve been telling me for two months about the game, so it’s been talked about by everyone in the club and I’m really expecting to play the derby,” the Brazilian centre-forward said on Wednesday.
The first two rounds of the 2016-17 season will see derbies in Australia’s two largest cities, with Melbourne Victory set to host Melbourne City at Etihad Stadium on October 15.
That match will be the first of two in a short period between Melbourne’s two A-League clubs after Tuesday night’s Westfield FFA Cup semi-final draw pitted Victory and City against each other.
The extra Melbourne derby will be held on either October 18 or 26.
City’s guest marquee Tim Cahill told reporters that although “derbies are always nice”, he cannot afford to look too far ahead with Socceroos and other club commitments before the FFA Cup semi-final.
“I think it’s nice to play against a big team, another derby [but it’s] not something that I’m really focused on, to be totally honest with you,” he said.
“We’ve got Wellington to look forward to [in Round 1], we know we’ve got two derbies coming shortly after and then we’ve got Perth [in Round 3].”
