''I have one year on my contract in the Middle East. I have always got at the back of my head that I would always like to come back and play at home, but I really don't know what the future is going to hold. I really enjoy my time in the Middle East and if I can I will extend it beyond next year,'' he said.

''We are enjoying it as a family and I enjoy playing football there. Why leave if you are enjoying it? After that it all depends on how I feel physically. I don't want to go back to Australia and not be able to perform. If you are not physically right in any competition you can't do yourself justice. You will struggle in any league. That's the last thing I want to do coming home to Australia.''

There was some surprise when the former Parma, Palermo and Empoli player opted to leave Lazio while he still had a year on his contract, especially for the UAE. But Bresciano says he had no interest in trying to find a club in England in the twilight of his career, and he had, after more than a decade in Serie A, simply had enough of playing in Italy.

''I felt I had to get out of Italy. I had been there a long time and I needed a change, this move means every aspect has been changed - lifestyle, culture, language. It's a little bit closer to home as well, Dubai, which makes it easier to see my family either at home or if they want to come here. I was not interested in going to England or anywhere else. I had one year left at Lazio, but this opportunity came. Obviously I knew the coach, [former Italy goalkeeper Walter] Zenga, who wanted me for a couple of years. And it was a good time, a great opportunity and we took it.''

The attacking midfielder had been absent from the national team for a year and a half until he made an impressive return in Melbourne in February in the 4-2 win over Saudi Arabia, coach Holger Osieck using him as a creative, deeper-lying midfielder - a different spot to the more advanced role in which other Socceroo coaches had employed him.