Xabi Alonso has denied that he is set to retire from international football and says he is still deciding on his future with Spain.
The Real Madrid midfielder grabbed the headlines after Spain's 2-0 defeat to Chile by declaring that the world champions lacked 'hunger' and 'ambition'.
Reports later emerged that the 32-year-old was to call time on an illustrious 11-year international career with Spain, in which he has won two European Championships and one World Cup, but Alonso insisted he had not made any decision.
He told Spanish radio station Onda Cero: 'I'm still not at that moment, I want all this to end as soon as possible, go on holiday, disconnect a little and then decide things with time. Right now is not the time.'
The former Liverpool midfielder refused to be drawn on suggestions that his team-mates were irked by his comments that the team lacked hunger, and insisted the atmosphere among the squad in Brazil was similar to during the glorious Euro 2012 campaign.
'I'm not going to say what's happening in the dressing room, for me that should stay there,' he said.
'The atmosphere and feeling in the dressing room is the same as it was two years ago. It's all very natural, there isn't the tension that you (the media) imagine there is.'
And Alonso appeared to backtrack on his earlier scathing comments about the team's attitude during the World Cup.
'We know that we lacked intensity, but our enthusiasm has been the same as always. The hardest thing was (to repeat) what we have already done, which is to win three competitions in four years.'
After the Chile defeat Alonso had said that Spain were not mentally ready for the tournament and hinted that the old 'era' - which was thought to include himself - was 'over'.
'Things are going to change. Eras end with defeats... and this was a painful defeat,' he said.
'Mentally we weren't ready. Physically we were maybe the same but putting that all together we weren't in the best shape.
'Then we have played against teams that were well-prepared and at their peak. We didn't know how to control situations well.
'We've not been able to keep the same levels of ambition and hunger, perhaps the real conviction to go for the championship.'
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