71 minutes played against Japan as his best performance of the tournament, after average displays in the early matches. Bresciano returned to the national team in February 2008 for Australia's opening World Cup qualification match against Qatar, starting the match and scoring the Socceroos third goal. He also played a full 90 minutes in the second group match, away to China. The new campaign has also seen Bresciano change squad numbers, wearing '18' in the two qualifiers, as opposed to his traditional '23' which he has worn for the majority of his Socceroo career. To England and back On return from Australia's Asian Cup exit, Bresciano became a transfer target for Premier League club Manchester City. After confirmation from new Palermo manager Stefano Colantuono that he would be leaving Palermo for Manchester, the clubs agreed to a four-year contract with a transfer price of £5 million and he began training with the City squad. "I needed a new challenge and I wanted to get the excitement factor back into my game," Mark stated in confirming his desire to play in England, also citing the chance to play under Sven-Göran Eriksson as a big reason for seeking to make the switch. However, talks between the two clubs broke down in finalising the move, with the timing of the transfer fee given as the primary issue – as City sought to delay payment – and Bresciano returned to Palermo to rejoin their pre-season preparations. As the transfer deadline passed and the deal was put off indefinitely, Bresciano continued training with Palermo. He came off the bench for their opening-day loss to Roma, and remained a regular selection under new manager Francesco Guidolin, although more commonly from the substitute bench. He came off the bench in the first match of the 2008–09 season to score a goal, although Palermo lost 3–1 to Udinese. He then established himself back in the starting line-up following the appointment of new head coach Davide Ballardini, playing both as a winger and a deep-lying forward for the rosanero, and also managing to score both goals in Palermo's second seasonal away win, a 2–0 to Sampdoria on 18 January 2009. Lazio On 3 July 2010, it was confirmed that Bresciano had signed for Lazio on a two-year-contract. Bresciano scored his first goal for Lazio in the Coppa Italia third round win over Serie B outfit Portogruaro on 27 October