How does Spain's 4-0 victory against Italy in Sunday's final compare with the great teams and the great finals? How does it compare to Brazil in 1958? Brazil in 1970?

Xabi Alonso: Bloody hell! I don't know. I don't remember them. I wasn't even born, so how can I compare them? They're different eras. But I am sure that this final will go down in history.

No team has scored four goals in the final of the European Championship before and no team has ever won a major final by a margin so great. Was it the perfect game?

XA: Close. No one expected a game with this scoreline. We controlled the match. It's close to being the perfect game.

For many it felt like a necessary game too, one that not only closed a unique cycle, of Euros-World Cup-Euros, but closed the debate too. Amid the criticism and accusation, the final felt like the kind of performance Spain needed.

XA: No, no, no. We were secure and calm, confident in what we were doing, confident that we were doing things the right way. I thought a lot of [the criticism] was demagogic. I laughed at a lot of what I read.

You read it? Footballers always say they don't read the papers

XA: No, I read things. I read things, but I don't change my mind because of them. I am very clear in my own mind. I knew what was being written in 'X' country or the other country. I laughed a lot. A lot.

Was this a tournament at which winning was an obligation?

XA: No, no. Not for us.

It felt like it.

XA: No, no, not at all. We had to produce a great European Championship if we were going to win it, and I think we have done that. We have only conceded one goal, we have shown that we are a very, very competitive team and ... people say lots of things but, well ... after the final, lots of people will think: 'Ooh, why did I write that?', don't you think?

So, did the criticism hurt?

XA: No, it didn't hurt me at all. I took it philosophically because I know that writing is very easy.

Hey, don't say that …

XA: It's easy to have an opinion, I mean! Writing is not easy, but having an opinion is! I have an opinion too. Writing is not my thing, playing football is my thing. And I know how difficult it is. I don't share the majority of the things that were written about us.

Things like: 'Spain are boring'?

XA: Among other things …

Do we fail to appreciate how difficult it is?

XA: Yes, I think so. I think we played well against Portugal but it was difficult to beat them. The goal didn't go in. That's not the same as the final when we went in at half time 2-0 up and that changes things. You have a greater sensation of control. People don't appreciate how hard it is to win games and to impose yourself on teams the way that we do. We have reached a very good level. And every game is hard to win. It was hard against Croatia and against Portugal. And against Italy, in principle, it was going to be the same. But we played so well that it might not have looked that way.

Yet the Spanish players did seem very relaxed

XA: Relaxed? We trusted in ourselves but we also had to give everything, we had to be focused, have competitive tension. It's not that we won just like that, lying back on a [sun] lounger: we put a lot into it. Mentally we are confident and because we know each other so well we do lots of things automatically. It is vital that you have things that you know how to do; that you know what to do without having to make a huge mental effort. We have created that now and that is a huge advantage that we have over other teams.

A philosophy, in other words? An idea? What's the difference between 2008 and now, for example?

XA: The substance, the base, is the same. Then there are nuances, small differences. In 2008 we played with two strikers more. Now, with Del Bosque, we play with more midfielders. But the substance, the nucleus, is very similar. The idea and philosophy is the same.

There are good players coming through who play a similar way and have a similar attitude. And the current team still has life left in it. Spain are going to be the best for a long time, aren't they? There are only three players in the current squad over 30: Xavi, Iker Casillas and you.

XA: Are you trying to get me to retire already, haha? I don't know how many will continue in the future but if we can keep this going, then who knows? Because of our age, it's logical to assume that there will still be a good team, but that's not the same as saying that it will win what we have won; it's not the same as saying it will win another tournament. It's very hard to do what we have done. We have to keep alive the hunger and desire, too.

Is that hard?

XA: It's difficult but we've done it. After the World Cup you say: the Euros is a great challenge, but ... And we have managed to win the title again. We've managed to control games, win the competition and that's a great symptom for the future. There are two years now before the World Cup and we'll see. The thing is, however good the team is, repeating those three trophies in a row again is very, very hard. We've achieved something unique. It will take a long time for us to realise and appreciate properly what we have done, but what this group has achieved is historic.