Brett Holman scored with virtually the final kick of the match to give the Socceroos a last-gasp 2-1 victory over New Zealand in their World Cup tune-up at the MCG on Monday.

Australia's performance lacked creativity and penetration for the majority of the match, but Holman's delightful finish will give Pim Verbeek plenty of food for thought as his squad boards the plane for South Africa.

Holman is among those players who must impress Verbeek to get game time in the month-long tournament, and while he could be considered a certainty to make the final cut he faces competition for places in the midfield.

A handful of experienced stars and fringe players were given game time against Ricki Herbert's impressive All Whites, who would consider themselves desperately unlucky to set off for the World Cup with a defeat.

Socceroos midfielder Mile Jedinak says it was an important hit-out for both teams.

"It was tough conditions tonight, the field was a little bit hard, it showed that [as] the two teams were playing very cautious," he said.

"All right, we got the result at the end. So you know we'll take that. But like I said it's preparation for the World Cup."

Chris Killen struck early to give New Zealand a shock lead when he capitalised on Shane Smeltz's flick-on in the penalty area and squeezed his finish past first-game goalkeeper Adam Federici.

Australia was outplayed in the first half, and even though the key objective for Verbeek was giving his players game time in a match setting - the Dutchman would be disappointed with the home side's display going forward.

The Socceroos lacked a killer instinct in the final third and certainly the absences of key attacking figures Harry Kewell and Josh Kennedy exposed concerns with squad depth and alternative options.

Scott McDonald had the best chance of the first half when he was found in space by David Carney from a cleverly worked set piece, but the diminutive striker failed to get a good strike on the ball and then fluffed his follow-up shot.

Vince Grella and Tim Cahill were both booked for challenges which could have earned red cards in competitive fixtures, and which both felled key midfielder Leo Bertos.

Bertos was the victim of a cynical lunge from Grella but shook off the clash, only to be caught clumsily when Cahill slid along the deck searching for the ball minutes later.

The latter of the challenges left Bertos in some considerable distress and with a nasty wound on his leg, and the Wellington Phoenix man had to be carried off and substituted.

Australia gained more of a footing in the second half and attacked with more fervour, finally getting its reward through Dario Vidosic's clinical finish after collecting a fortuitous deflection from Jason Culina's run-in with an All Whites defender.

Culina attempted to recover a poor first touch following a neat one-two with McDonald and his second touch picked up a heavy ricochet through to Vidosic, who turned and struck the ball with authority past Mark Paston.

That 56th-minute equaliser looked as if it was to be the final score of the game until Holman popped up four minutes into stoppage time, with a neat and calm finish after a clever Carl Valeri lob played him into space.

Kewell and Mark Schwarzer were the major absences for Australia, and both were rested as a precautionary measure as they recover from injury, while Michael Beauchamp and Vidosic were the best of the fringe players.

Young gun Tommy Oar was given a late run in his second international appearance, but the 18-year-old barely had enough time to make an impact despite earning a yellow card for a mistimed challenge in the 86th minute.

Australia: 2 (D Vidosic '56, B Holman '90+4)

New Zealand: 1 (C Killen '15)