Brazilian ace in battle with emerging attacker Patrick Wood for Sydney FC striker’s spot

Having scored twice off the bench in the Australia Cup final, Brazilian striker Fabio Gomes has staked his claim for a spot in Sydney FC’s starting team.

Fabio Gomes is all smiles after scoring the second of his two goals in the Australia Cup final. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Brazilian super-sub Fabio Gomes’ Australia Cup final brace has given Sydney FC coach Steve Corica a pleasant selection headache ahead of the Sky Blues’ A-League season opener against Melbourne Victory.

Having recently joined Sydney on loan from Atletico Mineiro, Fabio came off the bench with his new team trailing Brisbane Roar 1-0 in Saturday night’s Cup decider at Allianz Stadium.

And just three minutes after replacing Patrick Wood, who was a star of Sydney’s run to final, the towering 192cm striker scored from the penalty spot to equalise for the hosts.

Four minutes later, Slovak international Robert Mak gave Sydney the lead before Fabio sealed his side’s 3-1 Cup final triumph in stoppage time with his second goal of the night.

It’s just the impact Corica wants 26-year-old Gomes to have after bringing him to the club following the off-season departure of veteran English marksman Adam Le Fondre, who joined Hibernian, the Scottish club now managed by A-League championship-winning coach Nick Montgomery.

However, emerging talent Wood, Le Fondre’s long-time deputy, staked his claim for a permanent spot as leader of Sydney’s attack with four goals in his side’s five-match run to Cup glory.

Fabio Gomes celebrates after scoring in the Australia Cup final. Picture: Izhar KHAN / AFP

Corica admitted he wasn’t yet sure who would start out of Wood and Fabio against the Victory on October 21 in Sydney.

“Woody’s had a very good Australia Cup,” the Sky Blues coach said.

“He scored in every game except for (the final). He’s worked his socks off, he’s done a great job, so that’s full credit to him.

“Fabio’s just come in. He’s still finding his feet, but he showed (in the Cup final) exactly what we brought him here to do.

“He really loved it. He probably could have had another goal … so we’re happy with him as well, but he wasn’t fully fit when he got here, so he’s going to take a little bit of time.

“Communication is a vital thing as well. We have to make sure exactly that he knows his role defensively, as well as with the ball.

“He looks fantastic with the ball but we need to do a little bit of work on his defence as well to make sure he knows what we expect from him, but … I’m very happy with both of them.”

While undecided who out of the attacking pair would start, Corica was all but certain that English defender Jack Rodwell and Socceroos left-back Joel King, who missed the final with respective hamstring and calf injuries, would not recover in time for the start of the A-League season.