A-League: Sydney FC’s Bobo announces his retirement

Sydney FC’s veteran Brazilian striker Bobo is calling time on a professional football career that has spanned 19 years.

The 37-year-old marksman, who has scored 71 goals in 118 appearances for the Sky Blues, will retire at the end of the Sydney’s A-League season.

“It’s not an easy decision but ... I’ve thought a lot about it this season,” Bobo said.

“When I look back on my career I need to be happy because I played for big clubs in Turkey, big clubs in Brazil and the most successful club in Australia, so I have a lot of good memories.”

Bobo is in his second stint with the Sky Blues, having first joined the club in 2016 before leaving two years later for stints with Alanyaspor (Turkey), Hyderabad (India) and Oeste (Brazil)

He returned to Sydney last year to conclude a career that has also included spells at Brazilian clubs Corinthians, Cruzeiro and Gremio, and Turkish teams Besiktas and Kayserispor.

“I played 10 years in Turkey, five years in Brazil and four years at Sydney FC – it’s a long journey,” Bobo said,

“I have great memories of playing Champions League football in Europe and in Asia, scoring against Liverpool and many other clubs.

“It has also been a pleasure playing for Sydney FC.”

With Sydney, Bobo’s honours include the A-League premiership-championship double in 2017 and that year’s FFA Cup.

He also holds the A-League record for the most goals – 27 – in a single season.

“I’d like to thank everyone for all of the great times here. It’s a strange feeling, but I feel something new is coming,” Bobo said.

Sky Blues coach Steve Corica called Bobo a “Sydney FC legend”.

“There’s no question Bobo will go down as one of the greatest A-League players of all time – his goalscoring was phenomenal,” Corica said.

“He is still a danger in the box. He has that fabulous ability to be in the right place at the right time and he has scored some very vital goals for us.”