Name: David Luiz Moreira Marinho
Born: April 22, 1987 in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Position: Defender
Club: Paris St. Germain
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Why he’s in the news
The curly haired defender’s thunderbolt of a free kick opened the scoring in Brazil’s win over Colombia in the quarterfinals of the World Cup last week. The strike was just Luiz’ second goal for his country in 41 caps—his first goal came just a few days before, in Brazil’s ultra-tense Round of 16 victory over Chile. Now, heading into the Selecao’s semifinal showdown Tuesday against Germany in Belo Horizonte, Luiz has a huge role to play. Brazil’s talismanic striker Neymar has been ruled out of the tournament with a fractured vertebra and stalwart central defender Thiago Silva is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. That leaves Luiz dealing with an odd combination of pressures: to hold Brazil’s back line as the remaining first-choice centreback as well as contribute up front, as the hosts’ second-leading scorer in the tournament (after, of course, Neymar).
He’s special because
Even aside from his Sideshow Bob hair, Luiz always manages to attract attention on the pitch. He plays a physical, energetic style that adds entertaining bombast, and as he showed very clearly against Colombia he has an absolute cannon of a right foot. As a complement to his gangbusters style of play, Luiz has a subtle eye for a pass and can launch an attack deftly. That ability makes him versatile—while Luiz plays as a central defender for Brazil, he was often employed as a defensive midfielder last season at Chelsea.
Club career
After getting his start with Vitoria in Brazil in 2006, Luiz made the leap to European football the following year with Benfica in the Portuguese first division, first on loan and then signed to a five-year deal. He won the Portuguese title and three Cups in Lisbon, as well as a league player of the year nod, before being sold to Chelsea in the January 2011 transfer window for a whopping 25 million Euros. In London Luiz enjoyed a flush of success, winning the Champions League crown and FA Cup in 2011-12 and the Europa League title 2012-13. Despite the success, Luiz’s playing time at Stamford Bridge fell off once Carlo Ancelotti was sacked and replaced by Jose Mourinho. Last season Luiz was limited to just 15 Premier League starts for Chelsea. After a massive move to Paris St. Germain this summer, for whom Luiz is set to be a key defensive figure, that shortage of time on the pitch looks set to be over.
International career
Luiz made his first appearance with the Selecao in 2010, and racked up 10 caps by the end of 2011. While he was called for the 2011 Copa America, an injured Luiz failed to see the pitch in what became a disastrous tournament for Brazil, who crashed out in the quarterfinals. Since then, Luiz has been a fixture with Brazil, earning 31 caps and playing in all five matches in the Selecao’s 2013 Confederations Cup win, for which he earned a Team of the Tournament nod.
His most famous moment
While his stunner against Chile is probably the highlight of Luiz’s career, he has a history of scoring key goals in key moments. In the semi-final of the 2012-13 Europa League Luiz scored a first-leg winner against Basel with a 94th minute free-kick before scoring the third to secure Chelsea’s trip to the final in the second leg.
Interesting fact
The 50 million pound ($91 million) figure PSG paid Chelsea for Luiz is the world record transfer fee for a defender.
He said it
“My faith gives me the belief that I can go out and perform and improve as a player. It gives me strength and inspiration.”
What they’re saying about him
“He plays football like he’s being controlled by a 10-year-old on a PlayStation,” Gary Neville, former Manchester United defender and current Sky Sports analyst, referring (unflatteringly) to Luiz’s recklessness and risky penchant for bombing forward from defence, as well as (generously) to Luiz’s surplus of talent.
