Germans win 2004 football title - for robots

BERLIN (Reuters) - German soccer fans, smarting over the nation's failure at Euro 2004, had a little to cheer this week after German teams scooped two footballing titles at the world robot championships, organisers have said.


German teams won the soccer titles for four-legged and small-sized robot teams at the "RoboCup 2004" held in Lisbon, where the Euro 2004 final was held on Sunday.


In each event the German robots defeated Australian machines in the finals.


"The aim of the tournament is to have robot soccer players compete against the most recent World Cup winners by the middle of the century," said a spokeswoman for the event on Tuesday.


Some 346 robot teams from 37 countries competed in the five-day event which concluded at the weekend.


The 2006 championship will take place in Germany, which will also host the real soccer World Cup.


Germany failed to advance past the opening round at the Euro 2004 championships.