First Half
The match is underway. With only a five-minute delay, ER-Force begins its second Upper Bracket match.
Right from kickoff, RoboCîn comes out swinging, firing shot after shot at our goal. But our goalkeeper seems to have glued the ball to its dribbler today—every attempt is stopped with confidence.
Corner for us. Cleared by the opponent’s number 3 and immediately sent out of bounds again. The resulting ball placement should be ours, but the opponents interfere before we can take advantage.
The game remains fast-paced. The ball flies from one penalty area to the other, but our latest defensive improvements are already paying off. The defense stands firm and quickly transitions the ball to our attackers.
1:46. Cîn earns a corner. This could get dangerous, but the Erlangen wall refuses to crack. Our goalkeeper, however, reports wheel issues and has to be substituted immediately. Hopefully, just a quick pit stop.
A misplaced pass by the opponents gives us another corner. A huge opportunity to exploit the field switch. Unfortunately, nothing comes of it. Instead, an intense battle develops, pushing the ball all the way back toward our own penalty area. Just 20 seconds remain on the clock, and the tension is rising. In a match this evenly balanced, every single goal could decide everything.
But we manage to recover. A well-placed high pass creates one final duel in front of the opponent’s goal before halftime arrives.
Time for the pit stop.
Second Half
The second half opens with an intense exchange between both teams.
Before the fourth minute, we create an incredible chance right in front of the opponent’s goal. Unfortunately, our number 4 seems to swap nerves of steel for jelly wheels and loses control of the ball. That could have been the opening goal.
Our team looks far more composed than yesterday. Technically, we’re performing better than ever before. With 15 robots available, a rock-solid radio connection, and constantly improving control software, ER-Force has become a team nobody wants to face.
Just like in the first half, another lengthy interruption occurs after about a minute of play due to technical issues. At least nobody can accuse this match of being boring.
After a long discussion, play finally resumes. Hopefully, that’s the last major interruption. Cîn immediately launches another attack against our defense.
Following a prolonged back-and-forth exchange, we finally break forward toward the opponent’s goal. During the play, one of Cîn’s robots loses a wheel after a collision. Safe to say the mechanical team won’t be celebrating that one.
2:06—arguably the most spectacular sequence of the match so far.
Six consecutive passes slice through the defense in a beautiful zigzag pattern, forcing the goalkeeper to sprint from one side of the goal to the other. Every pass is perfect. Every shot is on target. Then the final robot receives the ball just a little too far to the right and loses control. It desperately tries to get a shot away, but the ball rolls harmlessly into the penalty area.
Chance gone. Ball secured. The goal remains frustratingly out of reach.
Then comes a highly controversial goal—for us!
Patient passing carries the ball into the opponent’s penalty area. RoboCîn, however, packs the box with four defenders and the goalkeeper, well beyond what the rules allow. The resulting robot traffic jam eventually knocks the ball into the goal. Because of the illegal defense, the goal isn’t awarded—instead, we receive a penalty kick.
Before the penalty can even be taken, however, we suffer a critical collision completely unrelated to our strategy. Somehow, that’s enough for the referee to overturn the penalty after roughly twelve minutes of discussion.
A deeply frustrating decision for everyone involved.
And with that, we’re heading into extra time.
Extra Time – First Half
The tension somehow keeps rising. If this wasn’t already a nail-biter, it certainly is now.
Within just 45 seconds, Cîn unleashes more than five shots on our goal. Every single one is barely kept out. By now, it’s not only the robots whose nerves are being tested.
But Cîn is starting to show signs of wear as well. During a ball placement, one of their robots simply gives up and suffers a technical failure.
Something has changed. Cîn is playing much more aggressively now, and we can definitely feel the pressure. Thankfully, our defense remains one of the strongest in the entire SSL.
After a quick but unsuccessful attack of our own, the first half of extra time comes to an end.
Extra Time – Second Half
Right from the restart, we move the ball beautifully up the field. But once again, the final first touch lets us down, and the finishing shot never comes.
The match remains completely open. The ball keeps traveling from goal to goal, yet neither side can find the breakthrough. The scoreboard stubbornly stays at 0:0.
The ball goes out of bounds.
Penalty shootout.
Everything comes down to this.
Penalty Shootout
Cîn takes the first shot.
Straight at our goalkeeper.
Saved without what looked like the slightest hint of panic.
Our first attempt follows. The new penalty strategy looks promising, but the opposing goalkeeper somehow gets just enough of the ball.
Round two.
Cîn approaches the ball.
Then suddenly—a radio connection failure on our number 2.
The robot barely recovers in time but only grazes the ball instead of stopping it.
1:0 for Cîn.
Our turn.
We charge forward at full speed, but the final turn isn’t quite enough. The shot goes straight at the goalkeeper.
Round three.
Our defense channels its inner Manuel Neuer. Number 2 has been replaced by number 14, and Terine does not let us down.
Unfortunately, our striker Farfalle can’t quite return the favor. Despite good positioning, we once again fail to produce the decisive finish.
Cîn’s fourth attempt is comfortably saved.
Now it’s our turn.
GOOOAAAL!!
A perfect fake sends the goalkeeper diving one way before we calmly place the ball into the opposite corner.
It’s 1:1.
At least five attempts per team are required, so the next round could decide everything.
RoboCîn’s number 6 slowly dribbles toward the penalty area. It lines up the shot…
Shoots…
Saved again!
Our response is laser-accurate toward the corner, but Cîn somehow gets a fingertip—well, a dribbler—to the ball.
Round six.
Once again, our defense holds firm.
And then…
GOOOOOOAAAL!!!
WE SMASH THE BALL INTO THE BOTTOM-RIGHT CORNER AND WIN THE MATCH!
After two and a half hours, extra time, countless technical issues, several damaged robots, and probably a few new gray hairs for everyone involved, the match ends 2:1 in favor of ER-Force.
We’re through to the Upper Bracket Final.
We did it.
After a good breakfast, we headed out a bit earlier than yesterday – since yesterday we arrived too late at the hall. This time we were on time, and the stress kicked in right away: charging batteries, calibrating robots, prepping covers, testing encoders… At 9 a.m. (local BRA time), we already had our first match against TIGERs.
Our quick (and pretty much only) solution: we heavily reinforced the broken encoder cables with duct tape. That was all we could do, since we only brought a limited number of spare parts. The electronics crew is now trying to recycle broken encoders and build new ones from the parts.