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Brett Holman struck four minutes into injury-time to spare Australian blushes and give an undisciplined Socceroos a 2-1 victory over trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up on Monday.
Holman grabbed the winner after receiving a deft chip in the box from fellow midfielder Carl Valeri to lift more than 55,000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground into a frenzy.
The last-gasp goal was a cruel ending for the All Whites who were the far more composed side and had sparked hopes of a stunning upset after a 16th-minute goal from Chris Killen.
It was an undeserved victory for the Socceroos, according to Australia coach Pim Verbeek, who slammed midfielders Vince Grella and Tim Cahill for two brutal first half tackles that sent All White Leo Bertos off the field.
"I think in the World Cup that's probably two red cards, so it's a good lesson," Verbeek told reporters.
"I cannot accept this... the players know it ... you cannot afford to go into whatever game and make tackles like that."
Australia, disorganised in defence and messy in midfield, responded with what can only be described as petulance.
Three yellow cards in 10 minutes -- the second a sickening studs-up tackle from Grella into Bertos's shin -- capped off arguably the worst half of football the Socceroos had played in recent memory.
Grella and Cahill, whose floating leg caught Bertos below the knee and sent him to the ground, were dragged along with ineffective midfielder Mark Bresciano at half-time as Verbeek, clearly impatient, made a raft of substitutions.
He was rewarded with more dynamism up front.
Dario Vidosic capitalised on a cruel deflection off Killen to steer the ball into the corner of the net for an equaliser in the 57th minute to lift the home side.
Australia reserve goalkeeper Brad Jones made a brilliant save in the 69th minute, parrying a Rory Fallon header from close range to deny the All Whites a second goal.
"If we played the World Cup in three or four days, I should get worried, but we still have three weeks so we're still on track," Dutchman Verbeek said ahead of the June 11-July 11 finals in South Africa where Australia face Serbia, Ghana and Germany in Group D.
"I don't think (we deserved the win) ... 1-1 was more than enough, I think."
(Editing by Kevin Fylan and Pritha Sarkar;
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