Bafana Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter says he was pleased with his side’s showing after lifting the 2018 Cosafa Cup Plate on Friday evening.

The South African national team managed to secure a comfortable 3-0 victory over Botswana in the final of the tournament through goals from Motjeka Madisha, Aubrey Modiba and Lebohang Maboe.

Baxter admits that Botswana proved to be a difficult adversary, despite having played more games in the tournament leading up to the final.

‘We knew two things going into the game,’ Baxter told the media.

‘One that Botswana have given every team they have played up until now a really tough time. We knew also they had a lot of games in their legs, so if we could take it into the dying minutes we could catch them on transitions because we were fresher than they were.

‘Both things came to fruition, it was a difficult game and Botswana worked really hard as they have done in all the games. We were fresh and had a lot of young players that were hungry to keep on running.’

Baxter insists that every game throughout the tournament was tightly contested, but the Bafana coach was pleased to see his young squad gain valuable experience with the national team.

‘The whole tournament has been close games, I don’t know how many have been decided on penalties. If you are playing against Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia or Namibia, for those young players it is still very important international minutes on the field,’ he added.

‘I don’t think the team can do any more than try to win the game and beat the opponent in the other half. The supporters that came probably enjoyed the game and they made a bit of noise.

‘After a very good camp, where some of the young players have made very good progress and have got good international game time, I would say it is mission accomplished.’