Barcelona defender Marc Bartra has thanked Spain boss Vicente del Bosque for handing him his 'dream' debut for Spain.

The centre-back made his first appearance for La Roja on Saturday evening as the European and world champions overcame Equatorial Guinea 2-1 in a friendly.

"I'm grateful to Del Bosque for having confidence in us and believing in the younger players. And I think that confidence gets results, which is the most important thing," he told reporters.

"I'm delighted with my debut and we won. The atmosphere, my teammates, starting, everything. It's like a dream come true and I think there will be many more times like this in the future.

"It's true that I always dreamed of playing for La Roja, but realistically I saw it in the future. I had a difficult time but I knew that with perseverance, good things would come and I needed to be prepared. And good things have come, that's why I'm happy."

Bartra has been a regular member of Barcelona's defence this season.