World Cup 2014 11am Bulletin: Attention turns to Luiz

Stand-in Brazil skipper David Luiz pulls this face in a lot of photos

Having spent much of 2013/14 warming Chelsea's bench, David Luiz is now chief protagonist of Brazil's home World Cup challenge...

Brazil are in the weird position of being painted as gatecrashers at their own party after their robust quarter-final display against Colombia triggered a wave of criticism. The side with the most revered style in international football history are now being judged the least attractive semi-finalists.

It is therefore the perfect moment for David Luiz, one of the most likeable members of the current squad and a player whose bursts forward from defence provide a bridge to the carefree Brazil of old, to take centre stage.

Luiz will captain the Selecao in the absence of suspended skipper Thiago Silva, while his knockout-stage efforts to date hint that it isn't as outrageous as it sounds to suggest that he can help compensate for the loss of Neymar in attack too.

The centre back has been his team's most productive offensive performer in that time, scoring their goal against Chile in the round-of-16 then setting the tone for shootout success by converting the first penalty, before firing in a match-winning free kick in the 2-1 quarter-final victory over Colombia.

Tournament top scorer James Rodriguez is the only other player to have netted in both knockout-round ties and, with Luiz near the front of the set-piece queue, another strike can't be ruled out at 10.09/1.

More importantly, a Brazil triumph over Germany with the 27-year-old wearing the armband would cement his Golden Ball (player of the competition) candidacy. The Paris St-Germain-bound defender is 9.08/1, despite being recognised as pacesetter by the FIFA-recognised Castrol Index after the round-of-16.

Back to matters Brazil v Germany, there is plenty of great content on Betting.Betfair to guide your betting on this potential epic.

Kevin Hatchard has Germany down to qualify and Thomas Muller to inspire their passage, tactics whiz Michael Cox has Bastian Schweinsteiger earmarked for a spot in referee Marco Rodriguez's notebook, while the Opta stats offer encouragement for any Luiz backers.