The All Whites have fallen short in their quest to win the Soccer Ashes Trophy, but coach Darren Bazeley is looking at the positives.
On Wednesday (NZ time), the trans-Tasman rivals faced off at Brentford Stadium, where the Australians earned a 2-0 win to reclaim the trophy they last won in 1958.
Despite his side being thoroughly outplayed and failing to put a single shot on target, Bazeley says he was pleased with what he saw.
"We are a very young, very young team.... really willing, hardworking," said Bazeley after the match.
"We had moments where we played some really good football."
Bazeley hopes this game will help the side for future matches.
"There's way more to come from us. We are a team that's growing, and we've got a lot of youth in the team...
"We'll get better and better."
The Australians only needed 13 minutes to find the back of the net, as Leicester City's Harry Souttar opened the scoring with an acrobatic finish.
Their second goal came in the 76th minute from a corner kick, when Martin Boyle fired the ball towards midfielder Jackson Irvine who headed it into the goal.
While the Australians had five shots on target, the Kiwis had zero.
"We had our moments, but we didn't take them" admitted All White Liberato Cacace. "To win a game you have to score a goal."
The All White were without key attacking threat Sapreet Singh, who was ruled out before the match with a calf injury.
The Australians will walk away with the historic Ashes Trophy, which was first up for grabs 100 years ago in 1923. The Trophy then went missing 1958 after the Australians last won it, with many thinking it was gone for good.
But the grandchild of the former Australian Football Association Chairman found the wooden chest in the garage the family home at the beginning of this year in Sydney.
After Wednesday morning's game, it will remain on that side of the Tasman until the two teams find time to meet again.
"The most important thing is in these types of games is creating chances, and we created plenty" said Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold after the match.
The All Whites will now turn their focus to Greece, who they play on November 18.
