The reigning world and European champions suffered a miserable start in St Gallen as they conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes to trail 2-0 at half-time, Mauricio Isla and Eduardo Vargas the Chilean goalscorers.

However, Spain turned things around in the second period, with half-time substitute Iniesta at the heart of their comeback.

The Barcelona star, whose extra-time winner against Holland last summer earned Spain their World Cup title, pulled a goal back with a 25-yard strike in the 55th minute and then his superb first-time pass put Cesc Fabregas through for the equaliser in the 71st minute.

Fabregas then struck a last-gasp goal to give Spain the victory, the former Arsenal skipper slotting in the rebound after he had seen his penalty turned onto the post by Claudio Bravo.

Fabregas, who was sent on in the 64th minute as a replacement for Alvaro Negredo, may have won the match with his goals, but it was Iniesta who claimed most of the plaudits.

Fabregas said of his new Barca team-mate: "The entrance of Iniesta changed the game. He played very well, scored a goal and gave an assist."

Chile coach Claudio Borghi said: "It's been a game of two halves. Chile have clearly been better than Spain in the first half, playing with precision and speed.

"But in the second half Iniesta has appeared on the pitch and torn us to shreds. I've never seen anybody like him play in such a simple yet such an effective way. He has taken the ball from us and made us run after it as if it was a shadow."

Another of Iniesta's club-mates, Xavi added: "Andres is capable of doing these things with the goal from outside the area. He can make the difference and he showed that again here."

Regarding the scuffle between the two teams towards the end of the match, Xavi said: "The controversy was a result of the tension, they looked on course to win and we've managed to turn the game around. You can see that nowadays there are no friendlies."