David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987 in Diadema), known as David Luiz, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League. He is primarily a central defender, although he has also been deployed as a left back for Benfica.
Born in Diadema, São Paulo, 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.
Born in Diadema, São Paulo, 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, and excelled against [[Santa Cruz , Vitória promoted to the second division at the end of the season with Luiz's help, after finishing in sFutebol Clube]] for that season's Brazilian Cup, in a 2–2 draw. At the worst situation of its history, in the third divisionecond position, with the central appearing in eight of the club's last decisive nine games, scoring his only Série C goal on 3 September 2006, in a 2–0 home win against Clube Atlético do Porto.
On 31 January 2011, Luiz completed a move to Chelsea for an undisclosed free, which Benfica confimed to be €25 million, on a five-and-a-half-year contact, 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, firing in a half volley to help the Blues come from behind to win 2–1 against Manchester United, at Stamford Bridge, with Frank Lampard scoring a late penalty winner. On 20 March, he scored his second goal for the Blues, heading in from a free kick against Manchester City (2–0 home win), 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 the UEFA Champions League group stage match against Bayer 04 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 (0–0 after 120 minutes).
Luiz picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the Premier League in a 3-0 win at Newcastle, so he missed the game against Manchester City. He got injured in training so he missed Chelsea's trips at Wigan and Tottenham.
Luiz returned to the starting line-up experiencing his first ever Boxing Day in a 1-1 draw against Fulham.
