Matteo Darmian’s arrival at Bologna carries a small but telling piece of Italian football history with it. Released by Inter after six seasons and approaching his 37th birthday, the defender has given Serie A one remaining link to Italy’s 2014 World Cup squad. For a league that has gradually watched that generation leave the stage, Bologna have signed more than an experienced defender: they have preserved the last active thread of a distant Brazil campaign.
The coach and the club
Bologna’s decision to bring in Darmian ends a brief absence. Until last season, Ciro Immobile and Mattia Perin were still playing in Serie A, but Immobile has retired and Perin has moved to Palermo in Serie B. Darmian is therefore the final member of Cesare Prandelli’s 2014 Italy group still in the top flight.
It is an unusual distinction, but one that suits a player whose career has been built on continuity. Darmian played every minute of Italy’s decisive group match against Uruguay, the afternoon that ended with elimination. He had already made an impression in the opening win over England in Manaus, where his selection prompted surprise among English journalists in the press area. Prandelli’s choice was justified on the pitch, even if the tournament later took a darker turn.
Against Uruguay, Darmian occupied the right side of the defence. Twelve years later, he returns to Serie A not as a player carrying the expectations of a World Cup debutant, but as a proven professional joining a Bologna side that has chosen reliability and experience.
The Brazil 2014 group, twelve years on
The team that faced Uruguay has scattered across coaching staffs, boardrooms, television studios and clubs far beyond Italy. Darmian’s move provides an occasion to trace where many of those figures now stand.
- Italy’s World Cup ended against Uruguay after Claudio Marchisio was dismissed by referee Marco Rodriguez Moreno. Reduced to ten men for the final half-hour, Prandelli’s side conceded Diego Godin’s goal and went out of the competition.
- Darmian remained on the field for the whole match, one of several players who would continue in the game long after the tournament’s disappointment.
- His Bologna registration now makes him the last of that World Cup group still playing in Serie A.
Buffon’s new role with the younger Italy
Gianluigi Buffon, Italy’s captain in Brazil after recovering his starting place following the injury that had denied him the opening of the 2010 World Cup, is now 48. He recently resigned as head of delegation for the senior national team after the damaging night in Zenica, but remains involved with Italy through the Under-21 set-up.
The former Juventus goalkeeper is a technical assistant to Silvio Baldini. Speaking previously about the role, Buffon explained that he was taking the path to understand whether coaching was the right choice for his future. The Under-21 side’s results have offered encouraging early evidence as he considers that next chapter.
Bonucci, Chiellini and the Juventus legacy
Leonardo Bonucci, now 39, ended his playing career during the 2023-24 season after making eight appearances for Fenerbahce in Turkey’s top division. He remains close to the national-team environment as a technical assistant to Roberto Mancini, keeping the international game as a central part of his working life.
Giorgio Chiellini has followed a different route. After finishing as a player with Los Angeles FC in December 2023, he retained a substantial place in football administration. He serves as Juventus’ Chief Club Affairs Officer and is also a co-owner of LAFC, balancing responsibilities in Turin with commitments in the United States.
Verratti, Pirlo and Marchisio beyond Serie A
Marco Verratti, who operated on the right of Prandelli’s midfield against Uruguay, had already left Italian football in 2012 without ever appearing in Serie A. Paris Saint-Germain signed him directly from Pescara after their dominant Serie B campaign. He spent 11 years in Paris before later spells in Qatar with Al Arabi and Al Duhail.
Andrea Pirlo, 47, has returned to coaching in Dubai. He had been considered the leading candidate to succeed Gennaro Gattuso as Italy coach during the summer, before the situation changed following the Russian sponsorship case. Pirlo had retired in 2017 after two years with New York City FC, then moved into management through spells that included Juventus, Sampdoria and United FC in Dubai.
Marchisio’s final playing chapter came at Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2019. The former Juventus midfielder now divides his time between business interests and work as a television pundit. His World Cup remains remembered above all for the controversial red card against Uruguay, a moment that changed the balance of Italy’s final group match.
De Sciglio, Immobile and Balotelli
Mattia De Sciglio will turn 34 in the coming days and is without a club, though he has not formally stepped away from football. The former Juventus and Milan full-back last played on 24 April 2025, when Empoli met Bologna in the Coppa Italia. He had started only the Uruguay match in Brazil.
Immobile had remained close to the Serie A picture until recently. At this point last year he was attempting to establish himself in Bologna’s attacking hierarchy, before an injury kept him out for several months. His final major contribution for the Rossoblu came in December, when he converted the decisive penalty against Inter in the Supercoppa semi-final. A six-month spell at Paris FC followed, before he chose to retire during the summer.
Mario Balotelli, 36, continues to play in the United Arab Emirates with Al Ittifaq. He made his first appearance of the season in the President’s Cup against Al Urooba, entering midway through the second half and scoring, although his goal could not prevent a 2-1 defeat. In Brazil, Balotelli had scored against England in Italy’s opening match but did not find the net again.
Darmian’s place at Bologna therefore reaches beyond one contract. The 2014 side has moved on in many directions, from youth development and coaching to executive roles and late-career journeys abroad. Yet on Sunday afternoons in Serie A, one survivor remains: the player who once introduced himself to the World Cup on the right flank in Manaus, now back in the championship to keep a fading generation present.
