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

Most club managers find these friendlies an utter nuisance. A number 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 substantially jeopardised the clubs’ chances within the league and other competitions. The ‘club vs country’ debate is always controversial.

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

The next factors may be considered :

Home Good thing about Intimidating Venue

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

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

Less than hygienic living environment and food.

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

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

It really is somewhat difficult to expect motivation in the event the games are thought about meaningless. On the contrary, 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 might be more very likely to be telecast live especially in the event 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 especially 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. In the event 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 anxiety about them returning injured or fatigued. So most players chosen will often be the next stringers and they themselves may not go all out so that you can lessen risk of injury.

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

Most punters are only acquainted with the same few famous national teams. Countries which they hardly heard about will automatically be regarded as ‘not good’. In contrast, as the final results of these friendlies are unpredictable, the smart punter can spot enormous value in certain underdogs, especially playing at Home.