Adebayo Akinfenwa admits best team won as Sunderland spoil his Wembley retirement party

Veteran striker Adebayo Akinfenwa admitted the best side won as Sunderland ruined his retirement party following their 2-0 League One play-off final triumph over Wycombe Wanderers.

Powerhouse 40-year-old striker Akinfenwa brought the curtain down on his unconventional career after coming on as a 75th-minute substitute during the Wembley showdown against the Black Cats. His team were trailing 1-0 to Elliot Embleton's first-half goal at the time and, just four minutes later, Ross Wallace doubled that advantage to secure Sunderland's return to the Championship after a four-year absence.

Akinfenwa battled against racism as a player in Lithuania early in his career amid doubts that his muscular, 16-and-a-half stone frame was not suited to a career in the game in this country. But he bowed out under the Wembley arch having scored 221 goals in 752 games at Football League level, including spells at the likes of Swansea, Millwall and Northampton.

And, even though Sunderland's win took some of the gloss off his big day, Akinfenwa was gracious in defeat and also proud to have brought his playing days to a close at the national stadium, saying: "I'm proud of the boys and I'm proud of this team - I really am and I thank each and everyone of them for allowing me to be a part of this journey.

"I wanted it to end differently than it did but, to be fair, Sunderland were the better team on the day and that happens in football sometimes and, at the end of the day, after 22 years in the game, I ended it at Wembley. I didn't think I'd still be playing at 40, but I have been blessed - I have - and my last kick of a ball was at Wembley.

"Despite my feelings today, I'll celebrate my achievement getting here and the achievement of becoming a