VIENNA (Reuters) - Most of the teams contesting Euro 2008 were in Austria and Switzerland on Tuesday preparing for the big kickoff while one of the game's household names stoically faced three weeks viewing from the sidelines.

Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro held aloft football's top prize, the World Cup, two years ago in Berlin but misses out through injury on this tournament which starts on Saturday and runs to the Vienna final on June 29.

Instead of playing, the 34-year-old will join the five million fans estimated by organisers UEFA to be coming to support the 16 competing nations and many of the world's elite players.

Cannavaro will have an operation on Wednesday on ankle ligaments damaged in training but accepted his fate of several months on the sidelines with maturity and good grace.

"This was my last European Championship. We are footballers and these things happen," said the Real Madrid defender, who added that he still intended to play his part by remaining with the squad and cheering them on.

LOOKING AHEAD

Cannavaro was already looking ahead to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, although his age by then would put him firmly among the ranks of football's senior citizens at this level.

"Definitely, after the injury I have the will to return," he told reporters on Tuesday in Baden, near Vienna, having arrived for his news conference on crutches following Monday's injury.

"I hope to give the coach some difficulties for the next two years when he is selecting squads."

Most of Italy's rivals were at their training camps on Tuesday although two of the tournament favourites, France and Spain, had yet to travel from their home bases because of friendlies over the next couple of days.

Italy's Roberto Donadoni was among a number of coaches with injury headaches, including Switzerland's Koebi Kuhn whose team have the added pressure of being tournament co-hosts.

To add to his troubles, Kuhn's wife was taken to hospital on Monday after an epileptic fit. Like Cannavaro, however, he was determined to deliver a positive message to the fans.

"Events like this do not just have negative results," Kuhn told a news conference in Feusisberg. "They also bring a sense of solidarity and standing together and that is certainly an important factor for our first match on Saturday."

FIRST MATCH

They will need that attitude against a Czech Republic team talented enough to trouble any of the leading candidates for the trophy on their day. The match is the first of 31 at Euro 2008.

With injured France captain Patrick Vieira also ruled out on Monday for their opener against Romania in Zurich on June 9, the tournament was in danger of being submerged by sombre news.

However, there was the consolation of an upbeat message from security experts who said they saw no indications of a major attack on the finals.

"We are extremely well prepared and have seen nothing to suggest any large-scale security scenario," Austria's Interior Minister Guenther Platter said in Vienna on Tuesday.

There are no signs of trouble brewing for the players either after all 16 teams were given a clean bill of health in pre-tournament dope tests.

(Additional reporting by Trevor Huggins)