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Surprise phonecall

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Iago Aspas had only just finished this morning's training session with his Celta de Vigo team mates in A Madroa and was in the shower when he heard that Julen Lopetegui was on the phone and wanted to speak to him. The Spain coach has called Aspas to replace Diego Costa who has been struggling to shake off a groin problem. It's the first time the 29-year-old has been called up by Spain at any level. Before flying to Madrid the player told Celta's official web page: "I'm still taking it all in. It's every kid's dream and I am very grateful to the club and to my team mates - it's because of them that I've been called; I hope I can be an example to all of the kids who come down to watch us train in A Madroa".

Different functions

A couple of hours later, Aspas was attending reporters at Madrid-Barajas T4: "I’m fine. I’m just looking forward to meeting my team mates, getting down to work and learning from them", he said. As for stepping into the vacant role left by Costa, he said: "Yes, we have different roles within our respective teams but at the end of the day we’re both strikers. It’s the coach who makes the decisions and he must have felt that now is the right moment, now it’s up to me to make the most of it. It’s difficult waiting for the national team to call but I’ve come here with the same excitement of a young kid to show what I can do".

Aspas

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