Maybe it's true - your first love is always hard to top. Looking out at the vast tracts of the Southern Stand at the MCG as the teams lined up for the national anthems, you couldn't help feeling the sense of anti-climax surrounding this particular Socceroos' send off.

In 2006, Melbourne turned out in a huge numbers to wrap its arms around the Socceroos with a lover's embrace. With then European Champions Greece as a dance partner, the night had a sense of heady expectation. Four years on, maybe that first rush of blood has subsided and the Socceroos are now as familiar as tea and toast for breakfast. You look forward to it, but it won't take your breath away.

And the game began that way. It was all heavy touches, balls being played long and high and with the pace you'd expect of a pair of draught horses galloping down the Flemington straight.

It felt and looked like an A-League game, and it was one of The All Whites' A-League warriors Tim Brown who had the opening chance of the game, beating Craig Moore in the air and then firing wide of Adam Federici's goal from inside the penalty box.

Then came the embarrassment. Sixteen minutes in, Moore again found himself in no man's land as a beautifully weighted ball from Simon Elliott found its way to Chris Killen at the back post. He saw off Mark Milligan and calmly poked it past Federici and New Zealand had the lead.

Suddenly the game didn't feel like dancing with your sister whilst wearing gum boots. The Socceroos' had reputations to protect.

Or wreck.

Vince Grella's reputation wasn't enhanced by his petulant lunge at Leo Bertos. His two-footed challenge belonged in a long jump pit not a football pitch. Soon after Tim Cahill repeated the dose with an artless Kung-Fu move that would have embarrassed a Sunday League battler.

Both tackles were later condemned by coach Pim Verbeek as totally unacceptable.

"In the World Cup that's probably two red cards, so it's a good lesson because I cannot accept this of course,'' he said. ''The players know this is not the way they should play the game. You cannot afford to go into whatever game and make tackles like that. I cannot find any reason why you should do it.

"I am very disappointed in that. We are lucky that it happened today [in a friendly] but it should never happen again in the upcoming six weeks. The first one from Vince was worse than the second one from Timmy. I think Timmy was a little bit overexcited. They cannot do that any more."

Verbeek revealed that he had considered substituting both players straight away.

"I was willing to take them out immediately, but I took them out at half-time. I am going to tell them that it's unacceptable.

"You can only give compliments to New Zealand. They behaved themselves and were very professional, my players were not."

It summed up the mood of The Australians. They spent the first half as though they felt entitled to win, and they seemed indignant and sulky that they simply weren't being offered a passing out parade by the visitors.

Verbeek made wholesale changes at half time as Cahill, Bresciano, Grella, Moore and Federici were all given an early shower and the chance to write it off as a bad night at the office.

Slowly the wheels began to turn. Brett Holman, Jason Culina and Dario Vidosic began to lift their work rate and when Vidosic pounced on a lucky deflection he made it count on the score sheet.

The MCG had found its voice and The Socceroos responded. If the first half felt like they were wading through quicksand, finally Mark Milligan on the right and David Carney on the left found some open ground and were running at the Kiwis.

It didn't look like it would produce any more goals, but it did settle the jangled nerves of the 56,000 who had turned out in anticipation of a party but found themselves in a hospital waiting room waiting to hear whether the patient still had a pulse.

And then in the very last minute some signs of life.

Carl Valeri's delightful chip from the top of the box found Brett Holman at the far post and he finished with aplomb with the last kick of the game (before being swamped by teammates, pictured above), giving the home side a 2-1 win.

We still await the full diagnosis from Verbeek, but there's no doubt his Socceroos have a bit of work to do to shake off the lurgy, and the lethargy, that was on display for long periods last night.

Because the World Cup is no place to go searching for a miracle cure.