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Fernando Llorente reveals "surprise" at Spain call

Juventus forward Fernando Llorente admits his 'surprise' at gaining a call-up to the latest Spain squad.

Fernando Llorente has admitted that he was 'surprised' to be handed a call-up to the Spain squad.

The Juventus forward was not named in the initial party, but was brought into the squad when Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa was forced to withdraw with a thigh injury.

"I did not expect it, I was caught by surprise and whilst it is in place of Diego Costa, I'm very happy to be back," Llorente told reporters at a press conference.

"Now it is very difficult to be here, I have to fight a lot, but the year is long and there is time to prove myself. It is always a joy to return to the national team. I have had a normal period of adaptation at Juventus and now I feel fully adapted.

"What I thought was to try to adapt as quickly as possible knowing that this was normal, that it would be tough, but that with the work that I was doing, in the end things would work out."

Spain will face Equatorial Guinea and South Africa over the next week.

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Matt Law
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Atletico Madrid's Brazilian forward Diego da Silva Costa celebrates a goal during the UEFA Champions League Group G football match Austria Wien vs Atletico de Madrid in Vienna, Austria on October 22, 2013
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