The 2013 annual Fraunhofer Soccer Championship was held on June 1st. As is tradition, last year’s champions, IZB St. Augustin, hosted hosted the event. 21 Fraunhofer teams met in the city’s Franz-Elbern Stadium with (almost) perfect weather.

Following the motto “a fast game is a good game” - the championship was fought on a half-pitch with each team fielding 5 players and a goalie. After winning all four first-round matches and the two second-round matches, Fraunhofer IZM saw off Bremen’s Fraunhofer IFAM in the semifinals..

The decider was played against IAF Freiburg. After 12 minutes of regular match time, the score was 1:1. Nothing for it - a 9-meter penalty shootout had to decide the game. It was probably the longest 9-meter penalty shootout in the history of the Fraunhofer Soccer Championship. No less than 22 (!) strikers had to step up to the ball. With almost as many goals missed as scored, Berlin’s Fraunhofer IZM finally brought the championship home with an 8:7 penalty win, bringing the final score to 9:8.

Of course, we’re proud of our in-house athletes and we’re already looking forward to boosting our local heroes again next year, when as champion side, Fraunhofer IZM hosts the 2014 Fraunhofer Soccer Championship in Berlin. Hope to see you there!