But the clash between North Korea and Iran in Pyongyang on Saturday could be one of those occasions when the cliché actually proves true. A World Cup qualifier between the two remaining members of George W. Bush’s infamous axis of evil – one fresh from a nuclear test, the other accused by some of wanting to conduct its own – sparks all sorts of international intrigue.
Coming just six days before the football-mad Iranians vote in presidential elections it could also have domestic repercussions.
Some argue that failure to qualify – Iran needs to win its remaining three fixtures over the next 11 days to be guaranteed a place at next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa – could damage the re-election hopes of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the president.
“The government of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad has shown it would like to make the best use of sports in politics and failure in football will surely have negative impacts on his votes,” said a senior reformist politician.
The comment might be seen as wishful thinking by a government opponent but it is echoed by a fundamentalist politician, sympathetic to Mr Ahmadi-Nejad: “The results of these football matches might shift a significant number of votes from one candidate to another.”
In an election expected to be close – and where Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the rival reformist candidate, is said to be gaining support – that could be significant.
Football is especially popular among young Iranians, and 60 per cent of the population is under 30. When Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup, millions of people spontaneously celebrated in the streets, dancing, singing and even drinking alcohol, all unprecedented in the history of the Islamic Republic.
Mr Ahmadi-Nejad is seen as vulnerable to the “football vote” because his government is accused of interfering in the national sport. That interference partly explains the failures on the pitch – Iran lie fourth in their qualifying group with just five points from five games – say critics of the populist president.
In 2006 Fifa, football’s world governing body, suspended Iran after the government removed the head of the national football federation. Mr Ahmadi-Nejad was forced to back down and the suspension was lifted.
In March, he was criticised for bringing bad luck to the team after attending, with 100,000 other supporters, a 2-1 defeat to bitter rivals Saudi Arabia. As a consequence of the defeat Ali Daei, the coach, was sacked and replaced by Mohammad Mayelikohan, a supporter of the president. Mr Mayelikohan was dismissed after just two weeks, having been accused of using derogatory words in a letter to a colleague.
The man put in charge of rescuing World Cup qualification is Afshin Ghotbi, a 45-year-old Iranian-American. Refusing to comment on the potential impact the matches might have on Iranian politics, Mr Ghotbi, who has spent much of his life in the US, said: “I was never political, am not and will never be. I only think of football, its tactics and people’s hearts.”
But when he was appointed in April, Aftab, a leading news website critical of the government, called the appointment “politically motivated” saying that he would provide the perfect scapegoat should Iran fail to qualify.
Mr Ghotbi shrugged off such suggestions and insisted: “This is also a good opportunity to show a more positive image of Iran and Iranians to the world [if Iran win].”
Iran play the United Arab Emirates in Tehran on Wednesday – just 36 hours before voting begins – before taking on South Korea on June 17.