Andres Iniesta guides Vissel Kobe to first trophy in David Villa's final game

David Villa appeared only fleetingly in his final match but went out a winner with Vissel Kobe alongside Andres Iniesta.

David Villa, Sergi Samper and Andres Iniesta celebrate.

Andres Iniesta captained Vissel Kobe to its first trophy with a 2-0 Emperor's Cup final win over Kashima Antlers as teammate David Villa retired.

Vissel, formed in 1966 and moved to Kobe in 1995, has built a star-studded squad in a bid to end its wait for silverware, with former Barcelona stars Iniesta, Villa and Thomas Vermaelen featuring alongside Lukas Podolski.

Wednesday's showpiece marked the opening of Tokyo's New National Stadium but the end of Villa's glittering career.

The World Cup winner announced in November he would be retiring at the end of the year, and he was restricted to a late substitute appearance, replacing Podolski in stoppage time.

Villa, who had been dealing with injury issues in the final weeks of his career, said: "I am very happy to be able to stand on the pitch at the end and be very happy."

Iniesta was influential in the victory, yet the goals arrived in scrappy fashion, an own goal from Tomoya Inukai followed by a fortunate deflection for Noriaki Fujimoto.