Football
Tim Vickery, South America correspondent 10y

Unconventional David Luiz key for Brazil

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Eighteen months ago, the old guard were brought back to steer Brazil through the 2014 World Cup. Luiz Felipe Scolari, 2002 World Cup winner, was appointed coach. Carlos Alberto Parreira, 1994 World Cup winner, was named as his coordinator.

In the opening news conference, the pair were honest enough to admit that they did not agree on everything. This was not necessarily a bad thing. A bit of creative tension is a positive. Too much, though, is certainly not and confronting them was an issue that could very easily have sparked creative tension of a destructive kind. An elephant was in the room -- in the shaggy-haired shape of recent PSG signing David Luiz.

In his previous spell in charge of Brazil, Scolari had taken a quick look at his squad, noted the obvious attacking characteristics of his full-backs and concluded that he needed more defensive cover. He added an extra centre-back to form a line of three. One of them, Edmilson, had played much of his football in midfield and was adept at stepping up into his former position as and when required during the game.

Over a decade later, the same situation seemed to apply. Full-backs Daniel Alves and Marcelo are more proficient at attacking than defending, and Brazil count on a player ideally suited to the role of the third centre-back who can also push up into midfield -- that man, of course, being Luiz.

Scolari flirted with the idea in his mind but it went no further, which is just as well for his partnership with his coordinator. Parreira detests the three-centre-back formation, deriding it as outdated. Had Scolari gone down that path, it is very difficult to see how he and Parreira could have worked together.

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In any case, Luiz Gustavo solved the problem for them. From the minute the Germany-based holding midfielder came into the side, things began to fall into place. Brazil stopped conceding goals in the space in front of their centre-backs -- one of whom, it was now clear, was Luiz. Brazil's team came together during the triumphant Confederations Cup campaign, defending with a back four.

This places great responsibility on the captain, Thiago Silva, one of the world's great centre-backs, who will have to organise a defensive line made up of adventurous players. At Luiz's former club Chelsea, manager Jose Mourinho was unwilling to trust Luiz to play at centre-back alongside two such attacking full-backs -- he appeared to regard the player as too reckless to be trusted. But that, as Scolari is quick to point out, is Mourinho's problem.

Brazil's boss recently made it clear that he has complete confidence in Luiz as a defender, and that he also considers him one of the most important voices in the dressing room. Both on and off the field, the Chelsea man became one of the symbols of the Confederations Cup conquest.

Before last year's tournament, the then-26-year-old was relatively unknown to the Brazilian public. He had represented the country in the ill-fated 2007 U-20 World Cup campaign, and after a few games in Brazil's third division he made his career abroad -- first in Portugal with Benfica before moving to London.

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Mano Menezes, Scolari's predecessor in charge of Brazil, caused something of a surprise when he brought Luiz into the national team straight after the 2010 World Cup -- but he was not totally convinced, especially when the player had poor matches against France and Karim Benzema. For the following year's Copa America, the veteran Lucio was recalled and Luiz was dropped to the bench.

Yet Brazil's failure in that competition -- and their defensive problems in the London Olympics -- worked in his favour. With growing prestige and increasing confidence, he became more established as Silva's defensive partner -- and in the Confederations Cup, his home public had a chance to see what all the fuss was about.

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As well as getting to know the player for ability, with his strong defending and raking diagonal passes, they got to know the man. The son of schoolteachers, he is intelligent, articulate and charismatic. During the turbulence of the political protests he was an appropriate symbol of a team that was striving to represent a people with justified cause for discontent. He was the first member of the squad to talk about the civil unrest, and his support for peaceful demonstration helped forge the bond between the team and the terraces, which was such a striking factor of the Confederations Cup.

Such a bond, however, would not have been sustainable if the team were not winning. Seeing off world champions Spain 3-0 in the final rounded off a memorable month for Scolari's side.

But it could have turned out very differently. Brazil had taken an early lead, but as half-time approached, Spain's patient possession was getting them back into the game. Fernando Torres and Juan Mata combined, and Pedro slid the ball past Julio Cesar. It was a certain equaliser -- until Luiz slid back. Merely to reach the ball was an extraordinary effort. To be able to turn it over the bar from inside the 6-yard box was nothing short of miraculous.

Less than a minute later Neymar fired in a glorious goal and instead of 1-1, the halftime score was 2-0 to Brazil -- which became 3-0 a minute after the restart. A tight game that could have gone either way had turned into a rout -- and Luiz had become a Brazilian folk hero, and an indispensable member of the World Cup team.

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