Wiki presents the Full Story of a Brazilian Football Legend best known by the Nickname; “Sideshow Bob“.

Our version of David Luiz’s Biography and Childhood Story brings to you a full account of notable events from his childhood time to date.

The analysis of the great Brazilian defender involves his life story before fame, family life/background and many OFF and ON-Pitch little-known facts about him.

Yes, everyone knows about his defensive skills but only a few consider David Luiz’s Biography, which is quite interesting. Now without further ado, let’s Begin.

David Luiz Childhood Story – Early Life and Family Background:

For Biography starters, he bears the full name David Luiz Moreira Marinho. Luiz was born on the 22nd day of April 1987 in Diadema, São Paulo, Brazil. He was born to his mother, Regina Célia Marinho, and to his father, Ladislau Marinho (both retired school teachers).

Luiz was the second child and only son of his family. He grew up with his only sister, Isabelle Moreira Marinho. Living the life of an average Brazilian was typical of David Luiz during his childhood time.

David, who used to be a camera boy during his childhood before switching to Sports, was also known to always cherish life in the small things that almighty God offered him and his household.

Asides from his family, David Luiz’s childhood was also centred around his childhood best friend who happened to be Thiago Silva. Behold football’s two greatest childhood best friends.

David grew up with Thiago whose parents were good neighbours to his. Both parents of David and Thiago saw their sons develop interests in football, their natural gift.

Interestingly, David’s father was a former amateur footballer who used his connections to get both David and his best friend Thiago into their different youth careers. A fact David recalls in the following manner;

‘It was my dad’s dream to become a top professional.

He got to the brink of the first team at Atletico Mineiro but the money was not there, so he had to take another job as a teacher. He used to say to me,

‘My footballing stop is your continuation. This is for you, it was not for me. I will live this with you.’ 

This was how young David Luiz stepped up his dream.

David Luiz Biography Facts – Career Buildup:

At first, David and Thiago were constantly rejected after trying out for youth clubs. Their rejection was on grounds that they were too small to play alongside certain bigger categories of youths.

Thiago was very short and hard, while David had more height. Fast forward to date, David now stands at least 6 feet 5 inches and 8 inches when you measure his hair. ?

David and his best friend Thiago later took their young looks to perform mascot duties for Brazil’s national anthem.

After a series of mascot duties, destiny made both of them tread separate paths to career success.

Destiny took David to the Sao Paulo FC youth academy. While Luiz was at the academy, he endured a difficult start to life as a youth footballer.

The club forced David to Shave his long hair, a development which made Young David Sad.

David Luiz got released by the club at the age of 14, after a series of disappointing appearances. It was the biggest pain of his life.

David, however, manned up to make the biggest decision of his life afterwards. He requested that his parents save monies for a plane ticket to enable him to travel and try his luck in distant lands.

According to David’s Father;

“Before he left, David only insisted on one thing, that we buy him a plane ticket, because of the distance, which we made in installment, for him to travel to far away Salvador.

We had trouble even buying shoes for him just because we were saving.

Again, We spent a year and a half without seeing David. Christmas, birthday, everything in this period was divided – and celebrated – over the phone.”

He continued…

“We used to call from the pay phone, to a neighboring house. When someone picks, we would request to speak with ” Paulistinha, “as he was known.

It was a difficult time, much missed, but we trusted the decision he took to leave us. Today we’re happy with the results”

David Luiz Biography – The Breakthrough:

Luiz arrived safely at Salvador-based club Vitória and went through a successful trial with the club.

Just like at Sao Paulo, David started playing as a defensive midfielder which again, almost cost him his position in the club.

He was almost released by the club for his poor performances in that position as his mistakes made the club lose important matches.

He was however switched to function a central defender, a role which David fared well. This made scouts from Europe seek to secure his services.

After much transfer speculations with Vitória, David finally moved to Benfica, remaining with the club for five seasons (three complete).

He joined Chelsea in January 2011, winning the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup during the 2011–12 season, followed by the UEFA Europa League the following season.

In June 2014, he was transferred to Paris Saint-Germain for a fee of £50 million, a world-record transfer for a defender. This was when he reunited with Thiago.

David won all four domestic competitions in both of his seasons in French football. He returned to Chelsea in August 2016 in a £30 million transfer deal. The rest, as they say, is now history.

David Luiz Family Life:

As stated earlier, David came from an average family background with relatively young parents who gave birth to him early.

Have you noticed?… Luiz took after his dad’s face and his mum’s skin tone. His dad, Ladislau Marinho, is of Afro-Brazilian origin.

Both parents, Ladislau and Regina, have all reasons to feel pride and admiration for their only son. They are proud of their boy, who pursued his dream of becoming a soccer player.

According to his mum;

“Young David Luiz made us proud. It was beyond what we imagined. From the little mascot boy to a rejected footballer who went alone to Salvador, at age 14. 

He did and went through all the possible sacrifices. He succeeded, but to get to what he is today, he ate a lot of grass. That’s why he deserves it.

More than a talented player. My David is a good professional, is a great human being, an open-hearten person, a above all, a supportive person”.

The words are loaded with the pride that Regina feels in being the mother of “Paulistinha”, as David was called in childhood.

Their closeness is evident in the most unusual way.

David has once taken his mother to celebrate a trophy with Chelsea, a gesture which many footballers would find difficult to do even when they have wives or girlfriends.

It is pertinent to note that David Luiz mum, Regina, was a primary school teacher. His dad Ladislau was a former college teacher of technical and sports courses. He is said to have taught his son David the necessary antics in soccer.

Ladislau Marinho was once an amateur player in the past, a skilled midfielder in Flamengo de Cataguazes and Sete de Setembro in Diadema, at São Paulo, Ladislau. Both parents are very passionate about football, thanks to their son.

David Luiz Sister:

There is a saying that “Being someone’s sister is hard”. But being David Luiz’s sister is the sweetest for Isabelle Moreira Marinho, who is the only sister to David Luiz.

She is older than him. Luiz also loves to spend quality time with Isabelle, Just as he does with his girlfriend.

David Luiz Love Life:

As at the time of writing, David was said to be engaged to his teenage sweetheart Sara Madeira. Both began dating as teenagers.

The couple met while Luiz was playing for the Portuguese side Benfica. They first teamed up when they were in their teen and fell in love, spending as much time as they could together.

They often visit their relatives and friends as evident in their numerous photographs from different journeys, they always look very happy and seem to be truly in love.

The cute couple spends all their spare time together and also with their families. His, girlfriend, Sara Madeira is surely a stunner but has also done well to evade the camera.

David Luiz Religion – How he Built his Godly Personality:

As Sideshow Bob puts it;

‘I remember the first time I said a bad word in front of my sister. My dad sat me down at the table. I had a different attitude then, not the right attitude.

“What do you want for your life?” he asked. I said I wanted to play football. “No,” he said. “First you must become a good human.

I want you to become a footballer, too. But first you must be a good human, with honesty, character, dignity.” It was a difficult conversation, but it changed my life.”

David learnt to live a better life from his parents as he explains below;

‘They were the people I listened to, who had their feet on the ground, were humble, who had a simple life. My life has changed a lot, but sometimes I stop and I look to my mum and dad and they’re still the same people.’

David Luiz Biography – His Football Idol in Faith:

Luiz has never played down his strong Christian beliefs and he has links with the Atletas de Cristo (Athletes of Christ).

Athletics of Christ is a non-profit organisation that is made up of Strong Christian sportsmen and was started in Brazil in 1984.

It is linked with the evangelical movement and counts Kaka among its leaders and devotees. David shares the same birth date with Kaka, a development that makes Kaka his football idol.

David Luiz Facts – His Prayer Works:

It might have been dismissed as “touching Fernando Torres for luck”, but the ritual David Luiz performed before Chelsea’s 5-0 Champions League win over Genk – in which Torres scored twice – is rooted more in the Brazilian’s faith than in some pre-match superstition.

David once said;

“My faith gives me the belief that I can go out and perform and also help other players including my opponent. It gives me strength and inspiration.”

He later added that;

 “Everything in life belongs to God. Our purpose has already been mapped out.”

David Luiz once prayed for James Rodriguez to score in a match against him and James did score. However, he didn’t pray for him to win the match as well. This is because it was against his team. Brazil eventually won the match by two goals to one.

David Luiz also has a strong Christian connection with other football faithful. Edinson Cavani and Jesus’ Boy…”Neymar” are also vibrant members of the Athletics of Christ organization.

David Luiz Hair Facts:

‘Sideshow Bob’ or ‘The Simpsons’ as a nickname came when his hair started growing. He never minds jokes concerning his personality and his hair.

Many of David’s friends including teammates thinks his hair is weird. Despite hearing that, he still likes to keep it.

Most of his football fans are in favour of him keeping his hair.
As a form of respect for it, many fans today wear wigs to look just like him. An example is seen below.

David Luiz Thiago Silva Friendship:

David Luiz and Thiago Silva have been inseparable from day one. They are best friends who saw their big dreams of playing football at a professional level become a reality. Below are emotional photos of David and Thiago.

David Luiz Personality:

Luiz, obviously, isn’t the average footballer. He also isn’t average because of the way he looks, the way he plays, and the glow he exudes as he does. In summary, Luiz loves to enjoy himself. He is not afraid to show that.

He also believes that people go rogue because they lacked support when they were most vulnerable:

“I think everybody is born pure. You never go to the maternity ward and hold a baby that has bad energy. It’s impossible. But after comes the pollution of the world, and that makes people change.

The situations, the moments in their life, people do bad things not because they are bad but because they don’t have the right support at the right moment.”

David Luiz Biography Facts – Style of Play:

Although primarily a central defender, David Luiz can also be deployed as a defensive midfielder.

David has drawn praise for his physical strength, work-rate, technique, and range of distribution as a defender, as well as his personality, composure in possession, and confidence on the ball, which enables him to play the ball out from the back or launch an attack with long balls after winning back possession.

A powerful striker of the ball from a distance, Luiz has also been known to take and score from long-range free-kicks. He is a role model to the likes of Gleison Bremer, Gabriel Magalhaes, Eder Militao etc., who are our best candidates to lead Brazil to greater heights.

Although he has been criticised in the past for his inconsistent defensive performances, for being reckless in his challenges, as well as being prone to errors. In conclusion, David Luiz is one of the best defenders in the history of football.

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