Nothing will be at stake in international friendlies. These games are of some importance only once they are used as warm-ups in advance of crucial competitions like the World Cup.

Most club managers find these friendlies an utter nuisance. A lot of them fight tooth and nail with the country manager by refusing to release their star players. You will find numerous cases of players returning with injuries which considerably jeopardised the clubs’ chances within the league as well as other competitions. The ‘club vs country’ debate is controversial.

The conventional wisdom is to avoid betting these friendlies since they are looked upon as meaningless. The end result will often be unpredictable. But a savvy punter may find value in the uncertainties.

The following factors may be considered :

Home Advantage of Intimidating Venue

Countries like Azerbaijian and Kazakhstan, etc. are not the most comfortable places to visit. How do you expect the best soccer online superstars to enjoy :

Long flights (some countries do not have links for direct flight).

Less than hygienic living environment and food.

Strange customs (especially if the country is of a predominantly different religion).

Climate (it cannot be easy to travel long distances from freezing winter in Europe to play in a humid stadium in Turkey on a summer night).

It’s somewhat tough to expect motivation when the games are considered meaningless. On the other hand, do be mindful of :

The Home team might be more motivated since they are playing for their country in front of their fans.

The game is more very likely to be telecast live especially should the Home team is playing a highly ranked Away team like England. Thus the Home team will be super charged-up.

Due to the live telecast, this is a good opportunity particularly for players from an ‘obscure’ country to showcase their talent, hoping to attract the attention of sports talent scouts of big European clubs.

The game is used to restore national pride. Should the country has been thrashed badly by their opponent in a previous game, there may be motivation to treat the game as a revenge fixture.

Do not expect key players to feature in these friendlies. Most clubs are reluctant to release their star players for fear of them returning injured or fatigued. So most players chosen will often be the other stringers and they themselves might not go all out to be able to lessen risk of injury.

When most teams play cautiously, most of the time it will be a dull match.

Most punters will be just familiar with the same few famous national teams. Countries which they hardly heard of will automatically be viewed as ‘not good’. On the contrary, as the end result of these friendlies are unpredictable, the smart punter can spot enormous value in certain underdogs, especially playing at Home.