Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa has thanked his Spain teammates for welcoming him into the squad.

The 25-year-old, who was born in Brazil, is due to make his first appearance for the European and world champions in a friendly against Italy this evening.

"Being with this team is like something from another world. The players are very quiet, very humble and have treated me very well. They're very special," he told Spain's official website.

"They're very good in training, the little training we've done, but I can see the quality in the team.

"I was a little wary at how I might be greeted and in truth I'm surprised that there's no differences between anyone here, it's a close knit group."

"But Koke and Juanfran have been here before and when I'm in doubt about anything, I ask them."

Costa has scored 27 times for Atletico this season.