Shane Smeltz scored the winner as NZ scored their most impressive victory in their footballing history by beating Serbia.
Winston Reid floated a long ball which Rory Fallon was able to win over Nemanja Vidic, turning the ball to Smeltz who caused Antonio Rukavina all kinds of trouble before tucking the ball past Anđelko Đuričić in the 22nd minute.
The Serbs ranked 63 places above the All Whites in the recently released FIFA rankings and in their midst were stalwarts of the Premiership, Serie, and the Bundesliga, including recent Birmingham City arrival, Nikola Zigic.
The Serbian performance led to angry fans rioting in the second half bringing the match to a halt. Serbian captain Nemanja Vidic had to appeal for calm before the match resumed.
The result is in keeping with a number of recent performances that have not exactly cast the leading contenders in a good light. Serbia is in a very tough group with Ghana, Germany, and Australia. All the teams in Group D are capable of inflicting the worst possible misery on each other.