Soccer: Luiz thanks the man upstairs

It was probably a good thing that Chelsea's new £25 million defender David Luiz's limited grasp of the English language meant the Brazilian was blissfully ignorant of the significance of what his new manager Carlo Ancelotti was saying just a few metres away.

Ancelotti took the occasion of the official unveiling of his recent signing from Benfica to admit that his team's chances of retaining their Premier League title are effectively over.

Monday's home defeat to Liverpool was the champions' seventh of a disappointing season. Going into this weekend's fixtures, they were 10 points behind leaders Manchester United with 13 games to go, including contests home and away with Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

It was enough for Ancelotti to concede that retaining the title is probably beyond his team, despite the recent frantic spending by club owner Roman Abramovich that saw Luiz and £50 million striker Fernando Torres join the club during the final hours of last month's transfer window.

Given that Luiz has already played for Benfica in the Champions League and is therefore ineligible for Chelsea in Europe, the 23-year-old centre-half might have been harbouring dreams of lifting the Premier League trophy this season, but Ancelotti appeared to be ruling it out when he said: "It is difficult to think that we can come back and fight for the Premier League title."

Ancelotti said a more realistic target might be to finish in the top four, while continuing to chase the FA Cup and Champions League: "The most important thing is to reach fourth place to maintain Chelsea in the Champions League. It is better for us to take it game by game in the Premier League but fourth place is a minimum."

Luiz came across as affable, laid-back and confident in his first press conference since the move. One encouraging sign was a promise to learn English as quickly as possible.

"I am doing my best to learn. I like to talk and communicate," said Luiz, who will start his first game for Chelsea on Tuesday (NZT) at neighbours Fulham.

Communicating with John Terry, his likely partner in defence, will be his priority but care will have to be taken concerning the subject matter, as Luiz is a committed Christian who mentioned his gratitude to God several times yesterday.

He certainly has plenty to thank the Lord for, his excellence at football having taken him from a life on the breadline in Sao Paulo. Luiz is not widely known in his homeland, having moved to Portugal when he was 19, but that will change now he is at one of the richest clubs in the world.

He does not forget where he came from: "I grew up in a hard place in Sao Paulo. I'm just grateful that I had parents who were able to work, even if they had to work every day to give the best life to me and my sister. I am eternally thankful for what my parents did for me," he said.

His father, Ladislau Marinho, was a footballer with Atletico Mineiro in the city of Belo Horizonte but was forced to give up to become a teacher because he could not make ends meet.

"My dad's career was going well but there was not enough money for him to support his family," Luiz said. "At 14, I moved from the family home to start my football career. I was 36 hours from home. I said I would come back home when I could offer the life they deserved. Thanks to God I have managed to do that."

- INDEPENDENT