Luiz determined to be more than sideshow

David Luiz has spent almost two years at Chelsea playing the joker, but the defender insists it is now time for him to adopt a more grown-up role and lead the club into a new golden era, starting with victory at the Club World Cup.

Luiz has found himself one of the most easily caricatured footballers around, with his zany 'Sideshow Bob' hair and equally cartoonish personality on and off the field. But he admits he has found some of the jibes hard to take, despite maintaining he would not let them break him as a player.

And he insisted he was now ready to fill the void left by the injured John Terry, an absence that coincided with one of Chelsea's worst winless runs in Barclays Premier League history. Luiz said: "I was captain at Benfica at 21. I know my personality is to be a natural leader."

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