Nothing is at stake in international friendlies. These games are of some importance only when they are used as warm-ups in front of crucial competitions like the World Cup.
Most club managers find these friendlies an utter nuisance. Some of them fight tooth and nail with the country manager by refusing to release their star players. There are actually numerous cases of players returning with injuries which significantly jeopardised the clubs’ chances in the league as well as other competitions. The ‘club vs country’ debate will be controversial.
The conventional wisdom is to avoid betting these friendlies as they are looked upon as meaningless. The results tend to be unpredictable. But a savvy punter may find value within the uncertainties.
The following factors can 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 excellent online soccer casino superstars to enjoy :
Long flights (some countries don’t have links for direct flight).
Less than hygienic living environment and food.
Strange customs (especially in the event 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 really is somewhat challenging to expect motivation in the event the games are thought about meaningless. On the flip side, do be mindful of :
The Home team may be more motivated as they are playing for their country in front of their fans.
The game might be more likely to be telecast live especially if the Home team is playing a highly ranked Away team like England. Thus the Home team will be super charged-up.
Because of the live telecast, this is a great 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. Should the country has been thrashed badly by their opponent in a previous game, there can 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 tend to be your second stringers and they themselves might not go all out to be able to lessen risk of injury.
When most teams play cautiously, most likely it shall be a dull match.
Most punters are only familiar with the exact same few famous national teams. Countries which they hardly heard about will automatically be regarded as ‘not good’. Alternatively, as the end result of these friendlies are unpredictable, the smart punter can spot enormous value in certain underdogs, especially playing at Home.