England v Germany: Increased Wembley capacity 'far from optimal' says Robin Gosens
- Published
Robin Gosens started all three of Germany's group games
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Germany's Robin Gosens has described the decision to increase the capacity at Wembley for Tuesday's last-16 tie with England as "far from optimal".
Around 40,000 fans are expected despite the British government delaying the final easing of Covid restrictions.
Germany travel to London amid fears over the Delta Covid-19 variant.
"I think it's borderline because at the end of the day 40,000 spectators at Wembley doesn't make it safer for us," said the Atalanta wing-back.
"We live in a bubble and are isolated, but it's far from optimal when you see the big picture."
Due to current travel restrictions between Germany and the United Kingdom, only 2,000 UK-based Germany fans are expected at Wembley on Tuesday.
However, Gosens is unfazed by such a prospect and is relishing the opportunity to silence a partisan home crowd.
"For us, it's an additional motivation," added Gosens, who scored in Germany's 4-2 win over Portugal in Group F.
"It's great when the stadium is against you and you can silence the fans.
"We have to take our motivation from the fact that we will do everything we can to ensure that the English are as quiet as possible in their own stadium."
While Gosens has never played at Wembley, teammate Kai Havertz is no stranger to England's national stadium having featured for Chelsea in their FA Cup final defeat by Leicester City in May.
Havertz and Gosens scored three of Germany's six goals in Group F
And the 22-year-old, who has scored twice at the tournament, says Germany will be prepared for a penalty shootout as they look to deny England a first tournament knockout stage victory over the Germans in 55 years.
The three-time European champions beat the Three Lions on penalties at both the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96, the latter of which was played at Wembley with current England boss Gareth Southgate missing a crucial spot-kick.
"Of course, you have to be prepared and after training you sometimes take a penalty or two," said Havertz, who has scored five goals in 17 caps for Joachim Low's Germany.
"But the 120 minutes before that are much more important and we'll try to win the game before then. If that happens, I would definitely take a penalty."
The winners of Tuesday's game at Wembley will face either Sweden or Ukraine in the last eight in Rome on 3 July.
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