Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque on Tuesday replaced Barcelona’s injured Andres Iniesta with uncapped Valencia winger Juan Mata for World Cup qualifiers against Turkey at home on Saturday and away four days later.
Iniesta injured his thigh on Sunday during Barcelona’s 6-0 thrashing of Malaga in a Spanish league match and is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.
Mata has been a regular fixture at Valencia since he joined the club from Real Madrid’s youth team in 2007.
Del Bosque included the 20-year-old in his squad for Spain’s 3-0 friendly victory against Chile in November last year but the winger did not feature in the match.
The European champions have not lost a game since going down 1-0 to Romania in a friendly in Cadiz in November 2006.
They top their 2010 World Cup qualifying group, with four wins from four games, and have only conceded one goal in their last 10 matches.
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