Bafana Bafana defeated Angola on penalties in their semifinal after a 1-1 draw, and then overcame Zambia 2-0 in the final with a more polished performance and a near-full squad.

The final result is notable as it was just the second time that South Africa have ever won in Zambia in 26 years of trying, and against a strong Chipolopolo side too.

But Baxter says the real value was expanded his pool of players and cutting out some of the deadwood from the failed World Cup qualification campaign.

"Our objective was to learn as much as we could about the players and this was a high-pressure game for them‚" Baxter said of the win over Zambia.

"So I think they dealt with it well. Going forward we have to try and get them more and more international experience.

"We tried to deepen the squad and widen the pool with the players that we want to work with.

"But you won't do that unless you are prepared to take a chance on them. So I am delighted with their performance."

Goals from Percy Tau and Lebo Mothiba proved decisive in the final, but Baxter also gave praise to his Zambian counterpart Wedson Nyirenda.

"I wish it was easy, when the game started, we obviously knew the first 20 minutes would be important because Zambia was going to be on the front foot," Baxter said.

"So we wanted to draw that sting a little bit, we didn't want to concede early and because they were on the front foot, we talked about our transition play.

"We had chances to extend our lead in the first half, and we were in good control.

"The coach has done a good job with Zambia, they were lively in the second half. They pushed us back and pushed a lot of players forward.

"I thought we were not clinical enough to convert chances from our transition, but I am delighted with the character of the team. Especially the young ones over the last two games."