Fabregas defends his angry reaction to being substituted by Spain

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Spain coach coach Vicente del Bosque replaced the player with Xabi Alonso in the 65th minute of the encounter, not long after the 21-year-old's pinpoint through ball had helped David Villa net the only goal of the game for the European champions in Murcia.

Light before the storm: Cesc Fabregas celebrates with David Villa after the striker's goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina

And though he admits he was not pleased by the switch, Fabregas insists he has nothing to apologise for, saying: 'The day that they replace me and I'm not angry I will leave football.

'It's normal that you think like that when you've been taken off. It's not a lack of respect for anybody for wanting to be a better player every day.

'The most important thing is that we won and that we've started the qualification phase with three points. It was not easy and we had it tough to break down their defence, but we did it.'

The 21-year-old Fabregas, who has made 33 appearances for his country but only played in five full matches, added: 'They always substitute me when we are winning. This suggests that I need to be better in defence to be a more complete midfielder.

'I want to improve, to be a complete midfielder and show to everyone that I can play in both positions, as much in attack as defence.'