Nothing is at stake in international friendlies. These games are of some importance only when they are used as warm-ups in advance 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 is always controversial.

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

The next factors can 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 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 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 in the event the games will be considered meaningless. In contrast, do be mindful of :

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

The game is more very 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.

As a result of the live telecast, this is the best 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.

Don’t expect key players to feature in browse around these guys 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 next stringers and they themselves may not go all out in order to lessen risk of injury.

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

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