All Whites captain Winston Reid has been deprived of a perfect sendoff from his international career, unable to inspire his team to victory over Australia at Eden Park.
While Reid's exit in the 74th minute sparked a standing ovation from the 35,000 crowd, the first-half departure of star striker Chris Wood with injury had already severely dented New Zealand's chances of upsetting the Aussies, who cruised to a 2-0 victory.
Despite the loss of Wood, the Kiwis dominated the first half, creating chances that they were simply unable to capitalise on.
Australia blew their best chance of scoring in the opening 45 minutes, when Marko Tilio was presented an open net, but nudged his shot wide left.
Wood tried to soldier on, but eventually had to pull the plug on his appearance, replaced by Ben Waine before halftime.
The Socceroos came out of the break with renewed urgency and finally broke the deadlock in the 54th minute, when Connor Metcalfe sent a high ball into the goalmouth and Mitch Duke rose high to head past NZ keeper Oli Sail.
All Whites coach Danny Hay introduced Alex Grieve into the attack and he had probably the best chance to equalise, when a loose ball landed at his feet in front of goal, but his first-time shot went straight to Aussie keeper Alex Redmayne.
Australia put the contest beyond reach, when they broke downfield from their own penalty area, with youngster Garang Kuol crossing dangerously. Sail initially smothered the first shot, Cacace seemed to deflect a second and the third bounced off the crossbar, before Cacace was called for handball.
From the penalty spot, Jason Cummings sent Sail the wrong way, firing into the bottom right of the net, providing the winning buffer for his team.
"Today was special and I'm grateful for everyone who came out here," Reid told Newshub. "We would have liked to play better and we've certainly played better over the past year, but today was just about the guys.
"It's been such a long time since I've been back to play here and actually the last time I played in Auckland was with West Ham a few years ago. It was nice to come back and play here, but unfortunately we couldn't get a win.
"I enjoyed it and I know the guys in the dressingroom enjoyed. My hope is for the NZ public to see them more often, because we have some good players coming through."
With the World Cup tournament expanding and a guaranteed spot for Oceania beckoning, New Zealand must now regroup over the next four years, with Hay's future still uncertain.
Australia 2 (Duke, Cummings penalty) New Zealand 0
