David Luiz was considered a clown at Chelsea, but now who's laughing?

Despite being a figure of fun when he joined PSG
last summer, the Brazilian has rebuilt his career in
France and completed his redemption on Tuesday
on the biggest stage.
Jose Mourinho made no secret of his pleasure in
offloading David Luiz to Paris Saint-Germain last
summer. Yet the amiable Brazil international center
back returned to Stamford Bridge to haunt his
former boss on Wednesday.
With Chelsea on the brink of the Champions League
quarterfinals, the defender headed PSG level from a
late corner kick. Not only did this pave the way for
the French champion to secure a dramatic victory
on away goals after extra time, but it brought
personal redemption for Luiz after he was
humiliated by his former coach.
Asked in early August if Chelsea would miss the 27-
year-old, Mourinho told the press: “As a central
defender not at all.
“David did important things here, was always a
good professional and we will miss him as a good
guy. But from a football point of view, we believe
our squad is stronger this season than it was.”
In west London, the inimitable defender came to be
seen as little more than a jovial clown.
Bullet | David Luiz's powerful header was a shot in
the arm for PSG
Luiz answered his critics emphatically during both
legs of the last-16 encounter. Not only did he land a
telling blow on the London side’s qualification hopes,
he also coped admirably with the unique physical
and psychological task presented to him by the
brutish Diego Costa. It was the kind of defensive
display the Portuguese did not believe he was
capable of.
A first-half collision between the two men at
Stamford Bridge led to suggestions that Luiz had
thrown an elbow, and Mourinho’s post-match
quotes suggested that there is still bad blood
between the Chelsea boss and his former charge.
“They can do what is fair from the disciplinary point
of view and suspend David,” the Portuguese said. In
the same breath he indicated that Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, another of his former players, should
be given a reprieve for his controversial red card.
True to his character, Luiz was rather more
complimentary about his former employer after the
game, with television pictures showing him enjoying
some jovial words with the Chelsea ground staff
who offered their congratulations to him. Minutes
later, he publicly apologized to the Blues’ fans for
celebrating one of the most important goals of his
career.
Moving to PSG has been somewhat cathartic for the
center back.
Released from the shackles of Mourinho’s cynical
negativity, he has found himself playing for a team
that offers him more freedom to express himself.
When he takes on apparently needless risks at Parc
des Princes, there are cheers of delight from the
home support and no longer gasps of fear. He has
become a cult hero because of his audacity.
Immediately prior to the second leg of the Chelsea
tie, he played a key offensive role in the domestic
fixture against Lens. PSG lacked dynamism in the
first half save for the defender’s daring forays, and
he ultimately broke the deadlock with a fizzing free
kick that he had persuaded Ibrahimovic to leave to
him. It was his fourth goal of the season and set his
side up for a 4-1 victory.
Luiz now looks more capable of playing a more
disciplined role when the occasion asks for it in
Europe. At Chelsea there were times when he
looked like a dog straining on a leash, now he is
prepared to cut a more obedient figure.
Ibrahimovic has certainly been appreciative of his
new teammate. Speaking of PSG’s central defensive
combination following the Chelsea win he said:
“Thiago Silva and David Luiz are both world-class
players. I’m happy to have them with me.”
Of course, the specter of Brazil’s 7-1 World Cup
semifinal defeat by Germany, in which he endured
the worst game of his career, will follow him for the
rest of his life. And the very nature of his personality
means that there will always be an element of risk
attached to his presence on a football pitch. But this
has now been successfully tempered in France.
The 50 million euro fee PSG paid for his services
remains an absurd price, yet for Luiz, leaving
Mourinho red faced after Wednesday’s victory will
have been priceless. Considered a clown while at
Chelsea - now who is laughing?

Report: S’Africans providing technical assistance in Boko Haram fight

Report: S’Africans providing
technical assistance in Boko
Haram fight
 Mar 13, 2015  Our Correspondent  News  0
Nigeria’s senior military commanders have
described stories in major international media and
culled by local media reporting that Nigeria is
deploying hundreds of mercenaries against Boko
Haram terrorists as a joke taken too far.
The officers insisted the foreigners, who were
identified largely as South Africans, are technical
advisers that are providing trainings and
instructions on the use of new armaments recently
procured by the Nigerian military in the war on
terror.
Some top commanders, who spoke with PRNigeria
without wanting their identities disclosed, insisted
that the news is part of the propaganda to paint the
Nigerian military as incompetent to deal with the
insurgency by desperately ascribing recent spate of
successes to ‘others’ rather than the gallant troops’
efforts.
The source recalled that only recently, some news
agencies ascribed such successes to Cameroonian,
Nigerien and “battle hardened” Chadian forces but
when it became obvious that the forces of those
countries were mainly fighting along their own
border areas, blocking free movement of terrorists,
“it became necessary to look for others” who are
helping Nigerians to fight.
PRNigeria learnt that the foreigners spotted in
Maiduguri, Borno State and other areas close to the
theatre of wars are technical partners who are
helping to train Nigerian forces on how to operate
and maintain the recently acquired equipments,
which came from different sources.
The source further cited the particular example of
the maintenance technician, who died recently,
insisting that he was not even a combatant but a
professional in fixing armour vehicles.
President Goodluck Jonathan was recently quoted
in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA)
confirming that Nigeria has some trainers helping to
get troops well acquainted with the recently
acquired weaponry.
According to Jonathan: “We now have this technical
people who are trainers and technicians, who are to
train our people on how to use them, and
technicians that help the maintenance, at the same
time training our people how to maintain this
equipment.”
He added that two companies were involved in the
training.
The source recalled with regret the several years
that Nigeria wasted while negotiating and appealing
for equipment supply from the Western allies, which
were not only rebuffed but prevented other
countries under their direct influence from selling to
Nigeria.
“The fact that we have foreign experts outside the
United States helping to train our troops is not a
secret but it is not fair for them to embark on this
blackmail simply because we got assistance from
other places when they turned us down at a critical
period,” the source stated.
When contacted on the story that mercenaries are
fighting the battle for Nigeria, the Director Defence
Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said:
“Sorry, I don’t have anything about that claim. I just
know that Nigerian military and security forces are
putting in all their resources, training and
experience acquired over the years to address the
security challenges.
“Our neighbours operating under the auspices of
the Multinational Joint Task Force are also backing
our efforts from all our borders with them. We also
have some offer of training and intelligence
assistance from foreign countries. Some of these
arrangements even predate the present operations.”