Thembinkosi Fanteni came close to scoring for South Africa

The 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa lifted the Cosafa Cup in Bloemfontein by beating Zambia 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw in Wednesday's final.

The win in the annual southern African championship followed a mediocre year for the country, who have dropped 10 places to 83rd in the latest Fifa world rankings.

South Africa, fielding a second string line-up of locally-based players, had the better of the exchanges between the two teams, twice hitting the crossbar.

Thembinkosi Fanteni struck a thunderbolt against the woodwork in the second half, following up a similar effort from Teko Modise in the first half.

But they were unable to turn their dominance into goals against a competitive Zambian side, who had beaten a full strength South Africa line-up 3-1 six weeks earlier in an African Nations Cup qualifier.

The match was settled on penalties after 90 minutes with Modise netting the winning kick for South Africa.

It was only the second success in 10 years for South Africa in the Cosafa Cup.

Defending champions Zambia were denied in their bid to win the title for a record fourth time.