David Luiz Moreira Marinho, known as David Luiz, is a Brazilian professional footballer
who plays for French club Paris Saint-Germain and serves as vice-captain for the Brazil
national team. Primarily a central defender, he can also
be deployed as a defensive midfielder. After starting out at Vitória, he moved to Benfica
at the age of 19, remaining with the club five seasons. He joined Chelsea in January
2011, winning the Champions League and the FA Cup in the following season. In June 2014
he transferred from Chelsea to Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £50 million, a world record
transfer for a defender.
Club career Vitória
Born in Diadema, São Paulo to Ladislao and Regina Marinho, David Luiz arrived in Esporte
Clube Vitória at the age of 14 after being released by São Paulo FC, and started playing
as a defensive midfielder, almost leaving the club for his poor performances in that
position. However, he was soon moved to central defender and adapted well.
Luiz made his official debut for Vitória in 2006, excelling in a 2–2 draw against
Santa Cruz Futebol Clube for that season's Brazilian Cup. At the worst situation of its
history, in the third division, the club eventually promoted to the second level after finishing
in second position, with the player appearing in eight of the club's last decisive nine
games, scoring his only league goal on 3 September 2006 in a 2–0 home win against Clube Atlético
do Porto. Benfica
On 30 January 2007, Luiz joined Sport Lisboa e Benfica as a replacement for Tottenham Hotspur-bound
Ricardo Rocha, on loan. He made a somewhat tumultuous debut for the club in a UEFA Cup
match against Paris Saint-Germain F.C. at the Parc des Princes, partnering compatriot
Anderson in the center of the defense, replacing the injured Luisão. Benfica lost the match
2–1, but managed to go through to the next round after winning 4–3 on aggregate.
On 12 March 2007, he played his first league match for Benfica, against União de Leiria.
At the end of the season, Luiz signed a five-year deal with the club and, on 5 August, scored
his first goal for the club in the Torneio do Guadiana friendly tournament, against Sporting
Clube de Portugal. He only managed eight appearances in the league due to injury, however, as Benfica
finished fourth. On 11 January 2009, David Luiz netted his
first official goal for Benfica, the game's only in a home success against Sporting de
Braga. He played most of the campaign as a left-back, at the expense of Portuguese international
Jorge Ribeiro. However, it was on the 2009–10 season, when
new manager Jorge Jesus arrived to Benfica, that Luiz became a club symbol and vice-captain.
He was everpresent, appearing in 49 official matches, as Benfica won the league after a
five-year wait. In the season's League Cup, in a 4–1 away win against Sporting, he opened
the score in the eighth minute, with Benfica also eventually winning the competition.
Luiz won the Portuguese Liga Player of the Year that same season, and was considered
an example in all levels, thus earning the respect from rival club's fans, mainly from
the city rivals, Sporting Lisbon. On 30 September 2009, Benfica sold 25% of
Luiz's economic rights on any future transfer to a third party owner, Benfica Stars Fund,
along with other teammates. He was tagged at €18 million, with the fund paying €4.5 million;
his contract was also renewed in October, with a release clause of €50 million.
Chelsea
On 30 January 2011, Luiz completed a move to Chelsea for an undisclosed fee, which Benfica
reported to be €25 million, a five-and-a-half-year contract, with Nemanja Matić joining Benfica
at the end of the season after his transfer spell away at Vitesse in the Netherlands.
He made his official Premier League debut on 6 February, replacing José Bosingwa in
a 1–0 home loss against Liverpool. Eight days later, he made his first start for Chelsea,
in a 0–0 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Instantly becoming a cult hero amongst the
Chelsea fans, David Luiz was awarded the Barclays Man of the Match award for his performance,
despite giving away a penalty in the 93rd minute of the game, which was saved by Petr
Čech.
On 1 March, David Luiz scored his first goal for Chelsea to help the Blues come from behind
to win 2–1 against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. On 20 March, he headed in
his second goal for the Blues for a 2-0 home win over Manchester City, and again receiving
the Man of the match award, as well as the Player of the Month for March.
Luiz missed the first three games of 2011–12 season due to a knee injury. He made his return
to the first team on 13 September in a Champions League group stage match against Bayer Leverkusen,
and he scored from 15 yards to break the deadlock in an eventual 2–0 home win. On his second
match, a League Cup third round tie against Fulham, he netted his penalty shoot-out attempt
in a 4–3 win. On 5 February 2012, in a league home fixture
against Manchester United, Luiz put Chelsea ahead 3–0 in the 50th minute after his header
was deflected by Rio Ferdinand, following a Juan Mata free kick – the game ended with
a 3–3 draw. On the 25th, through a curled shot, he opened the score against Bolton Wanderers.
On 14 March, Chelsea faced Napoli in the Champions League's round-of-16, following a 1–3 loss
at the Stadio San Paolo: Luiz made a stunning performance to help his team win the tie with
a 4–1 extra time win, being subsequently chosen by UEFA as the "Man of the match",
an accolade he also received in the first leg of the quarterfinals against former team
Benfica. However, after leaving the pitch in the FA Cup semifinals against Tottenham
Hotspur with a muscular injury, it was announced that he would miss both of the Champions League
semifinals encounters against Barcelona, and the domestic cup final; he played, however,
in the Champions League final – John Terry was also suspended for the match – Luiz
appeared, and started for Chelsea, playing the full 120 minutes, along with converting
his penalty shootout attempt as the Blues won the shootout 4–3.
On 22 September 2012, Luiz signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea. He started the new
season again as a regular alongside either Gary Cahill or Terry, and scored his first
goal from a free-kick against Nordsjælland, in a 4–0 away win for the campaign's Champions
League; in the Club World Cup in 2012, in which Chelsea lost in the final to Corinthians,
he was chosen the second best player of the tournament, receiving the Silver Ball for
his performances, one of which as a defensive midfielder. He played in that position in
an 8–0 home thrashing of Aston Villa the following week, being chosen Man of the Match
and netting the second from a free-kick. On 17 April 2013, Luiz scored during a 3–0
victory against London rivals Fulham. He also scored in both legs of the Europa League semi-finals
against Basel, the first was a last minute, low free-kick curled around the wall and into
the goalkeepers bottom left hand corner to secure a dramatic 2–1 away win, giving Chelsea
an advantage going into the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Luiz was widely criticized for a controversial incident during Chelsea's 1–0 away win over
Manchester United at Old Trafford on 5 May. After Luiz elbowed opponent Rafael, Rafael
kicked out at Luiz and was sent off. However, Luiz was seen smiling while lying on the ground
before writhing around in mock agony. Luiz defended himself, saying he was smiling at
the Manchester United fans who could be seen screaming insults and laughing at him.
Paris Saint-Germain On 13 June 2014, Luiz transferred to French
club Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £50m, a world-record transfer for a defender, signing
a five year contract. International career
David Luiz played with Brazil's under-20 at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2007, with the
team being ousted in the last-16 stage. Courtesy of his solid season at Benfica, he was first
picked for the senior side in a 2–0 friendly win against the United States on 10 August
2010, the first match after Mano Menezes had Dunga as the coach of the Seleção.
Luiz was present in every squad during the management of Menezes and was called up for
the Copa América in 2011, but did not make a single appearance at the tournament due
to injury. In a friendly with Mexico in October of that year, he scored an own goal, but the
Seleção eventually won it 2–1. On 7 September 2012, Luiz captained Brazil
for the first time, appearing in a 1–0 win against South Africa in São Paulo.
Luiz was included in the squad for the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013, which was hosted
in his native Brazil. Alongside teammate Thiago Silva, Luiz started all matches and helped
Brazil win their fourth Confederations Cup title. In the final against Spain, he made
an outstanding goal-line clearance from Pedro Rodríguez's shot.
On 2 June, Luiz was named in Brazil's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He scored his
first international goal in a 1–1 draw against Chile in the round of 16. He subsequently
converted the team's first kick in the penalty shootout as they prevailed 3–2 and reached
the quarter-finals where he scored the winning goal from a long-distance free kick in a 2–1
win against Colombia. In the absence of Thiago Silva due to suspension, Luiz captained the
Seleção in their 7–1 defeat to Germany at the semi-final stage of the tournament.
International goals Score and Result lists Brazil's goals first.
Personal life He is a devout Christian and has named Kaká
as his role model. He said: "My faith gives me the belief that I can go out and perform
and improve as a player. It gives me strength and inspiration." He later added: "Everything
in life belongs to God. Our purpose has already been mapped out."
Honours Club
Benfica Primeira Liga: 2009–10
Taça da Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 Chelsea
FA Cup: 2011–12 UEFA Champions League: 2011–12
UEFA Europa League: 2012–13 Vitória
Campeonato Baiano: 2005 National team
Brazil FIFA Confederations Cup: 2013
Individual Primeira Liga Player of the Year: 2009–10
Premier League Player of the Month: March 2011
PFA Fans Player of the Month: March 2011 FIFA Club World Cup: Silver Ball 2012
Team of FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 Statistics
Club As of 4 May 2014.
1Continental competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup / Europa League
and UEFA Super Cup.2Other tournaments include the FA Community Shield, FIFA Club World Cup,
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and Campeonato Baiano.
References
External links Chelsea official profile
Stats and profile at Zerozero Stats at ForaDeJogo
PortuGOAL profile David Luiz career stats at Soccerbase
David Luiz at National-Football-Teams.com