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Cesc Fabregas goal helps Spain defeat Costa Rica in friendly

Cesc Fabregas scored one goal and set up another to lead Spain's 2-1 comeback win over Costa Rica in a friendly on Thursday.

Johan Venegas put Costa Rica ahead in the fifth minute, but Fabregas passed for Paco Alcacer to level two minutes later. Fabregas scored Spain's second goal on the half-hour mark.

Aleix Vidal played a part in Fabregas' goal in his international debut, but Barcelona's new signing was substituted at half-time after Costa Rica defender Giancarlo Gonzalez landed on his left ankle late in the first half.

Spain, the two-time defending European champion, travel to Belarus for a 2018 European Championship qualifier on Sunday. They are in second place in Group C, three points behind leader Slovakia.

Earlier on Thursday, Japan beat Iraq 4-0 ahead of their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.

Two goals in the first nine minutes from Keisuke Honda and Tomoaki Makino put Japan firmly in control in Yokohama.

Shinji Okazaki added a third in the 32nd minute and Genki Haraguchi came off the bench to seal the win with his first national team goal late in the second half.

Iraq seldom threatened but Justin Hikmat Azeez went close with a free kick in first-half injury time.

South Korea cruised past United Arab Emirates 3-0.

Yeom Ki-Hun ended the visitor's resistance on the the stroke of half-time and after the break Yong-Jae Lee and Jung-Hyub Lee secured the victory.

Substitute Mehdi Torabi scored in the 94th minute to give Iran a last-gasp, 1-0 win in Uzbekistan.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.