"If we don't win it this year, we'll never win it."

The Germans were not so confident about the chances for their team which recently lost 4-1 to Italy in a friendly.

"It's definitely an advantage to play at home, but I think it will be a big achievement for Germany to make it into the semi-finals," centre-forward Siegfried Held, 63, said.

The players visited the new Wembley stadium on Tuesday, where they met construction workers and signed autographs. The 750 million pound ($1.31 billion) redevelopment of the site in northwest London has been dogged with problems.

"It's very impressive. At the moment I would say Munich is the most beautiful stadium ... but once this is finished I think it will be stadium number one in the world," Franz Beckenbauer, president of the 2006 World Cup organising committee, said.

Jack Charlton was not so impressed, however.

"The first time I walked into the old Wembley stadium it looked a lot bigger than this... I thought it would have been bigger," Charlton said.

The reunion of the teams was rounded off with a reception at the German embassy on Tuesday night featuring the crossbar which played such a decisive role in the 1966 final.

"What's most important is that 40 years on we've remained good friends with the English team. The rest is not important," Tilkowski said.