Italy coach Cesare Prandelli can now turn his full attention to matters on the field after putting pen to paper on a two-year contract extension ahead of his team’s World Cup campaign in Brazil.

The 56-year-old, who revealed last month that he had struck an agreement with the Italian Football Federation to remain in charge until after the 2016 European Championship, needed to iron out details in his new deal and finally did so yesterday.

“The agreement was already in place two months ago but we needed this time to formulate the contract,” Prandelli said.

“The federation wanted to include my image rights and this was the reason for the delay in signing the contract.”

Prandelli has yet to make a decision on the 23-man squad he will take to Brazil, where Italy will face England, Uruguay and Costa Rica in Group D.

The Azzurri’s first game will be against Roy Hodgson’s England on June 14 in Manaus.

“I have to wait and see as the next four days will be important to understand which players will be able to manage the workload and then we will have the friendly against Ireland (next Saturday),” he said.

“After that game, we will choose the 23 players.”

Prandelli yesterday leapt to the defence of Milan forward Mario Balotelli, who was a target of racist abuse by a spectator during training last week.

“It’s unacceptable that Balotelli is insulted because of the colour of his skin,” he said.

“The other day during training there were 99 people that applauded him and an idiot that insulted him.

“But just one person should not make news.”

Overall, the coach says, the players have been committed and worked well.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by their endurance, really. Not just physically, but mentally,” he said.

“When training lasts so long, a player might be thinking of something else.”