Socceroos captain Lucas Neill says if Australia reach the 2014 World Cup it will be more satisfying than the 2010 qualifying campaign because it is harder this time.

The Socceroos meet Saudi Arabia in a qualifier at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on Wednesday night having already secured their passage to the next stage.

But Neill said Australia would be treating the match immensely seriously.

“Every time we play we’re always playing for our places,” Neill told reporters on Tuesday.

“This game is no different. Why would we play a game, an international, and not want to win?

“We’re playing for a bigger prize now, which is going to Brazil, and we have to prepare.”

Despite being the No.1 ranked team in Asia, Neill said if the Socceroos’ standards did not lift, they risked being overtaken and missing the World Cup.

“If we’re going to get to Brazil, this will be the most satisfying qualifying campaign of the seven years (in Asia) thus far,” he said.

“Because the games are tougher, the games are harder. The teams we’re playing against are improving all the time.

“We can’t get complacent and we have to keep improving ourselves.

“We have to keep the momentum.”

While the match is not must-win for Australia, it is for the visitors, who can be overtaken by either Oman or Thailand, who will be playing simultaneously.

Neill said Saudi Arabia would be under huge pressure from their fans, who expected them to qualify.

“We have to expose that,” the captain said.

“If they are feeling the pressure we have to make sure they really feel the pressure.

“This is a game that we want to win and we know they have to win.

“So if we find ourselves in the game putting them under pressure, we know that they’ll feel that.”

Socceroos coach Holger Osieck confirmed recalled midfielder Mark Bresciano would start in what will be his first match for Australia since his self-imposed exile following the 2010 World Cup.

But, despite some new faces in the squad, Osieck said he was in no mood for experimenting with the line-up or formation.

“I don’t consider (Bresciano) an experiment, he’s a very experienced guy and has played at the top level,” the coach said.

Osieck said any player who treated the match as a dead rubber would pay for it.

“All the boys have to qualify for the next round to be part of the Socceroos, that is my point,” he said.

“They have to accept it and if I see any complacency here, there’s going to be a reaction, that’s for sure.”