What a result. Forget the timid stuff about "It's a friendly" or "the Serbs did not field their top team".
No top European side rated 15th in the Fifa rankings wants to lose to a side rated 63 places below it. And the Serbs did have a handy trio in Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic, Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic and Inter Milan's Dejan Stankovic.
Also, the lesser-known Serbs would have been playing for places in their nation's World Cup venture, which suggests they would be going flat out.
Let's not forget the All Whites had a few regular faces missing, including Tim Brown, who just had shoulder surgery after the friendly match with Australia.
Also missing were striker Chris Killen and South Island defenders Andy Boyens and Ben Sigmund, though it was nice to see Jeremy Brockie, a former Otago Milk Cup player, get a run, even if maybe he should have scored when he drove wide after making a strong run through the Serb central defence.
Those attacking chances were the difference between some backs-to-the-wall performances achieved by New Zealand in the past and yesterday's effort, which could have produced four or more goals.
The 3-4-3 formation supposedly set up by coach Ricki Herbert on paper is a great deal more flexible in reality, and relies on all players working immensely hard, and getting behind the ball when required.
The key factor is a brave mindset that encourages players to make forward runs, and around Rory Fallon's flagship performance as target-man, and some intelligent delivery by Simon Elliott, this All White team can create chances.
It was interesting to see Fallon (1.90m) dwarfed by Serbian giant Nikola Zigic (2.03m), who is even taller than English striker Peter Crouch.
Forget sheer height - it is spring and aggression that counts in heading a ball, and All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen has those qualities in abundance.
Nelsen's iconic status inspires his team-mates as much as the New Zealand football public, and his calm experience called positional plays at the back yesterday.
When the occasion demands, Nelsen can be a ruthlessly strong tackler when inevitable gaps appear.
Shane Smeltz probably doubled his worth on the transfer market with that feint and cool finish which opened the scoring after 22 minutes, and if his impressive form carries forward to the World Cup, he could be hot property.
Credit to Herbert, who kept his nerve to give starts to Winston Reid (21), who has made more than 100 appearances for Danish club FC Midtjylland, and 20-year-old Tommy Smith, who partnered Nelsen in defence.
Herbert has always said that it is team performance he is looking for in the World Cup build-up, using the matches to assess different players and their possible roles.
However, a positive mindset is invaluable in any sport, and any wins that can be achieved on the way are equally important psychologically to stoke up player confidence.
When I peered out the window this morning, there were quite a few lights flickering on in my neighbourhood.
I expect those lights will increase as the All Whites march on to the World Cup and that first match against Slovakia.
