Italy's Cannavaro has successful ankle surgery

Fabio Cannavaro had a successful operation on Wednesday to mend ankle ligaments he tore in Italy's first Euro 2008 training session.

The defender was ruled out of the tournament after being injured on Monday when he was tackled by team mate Giorgio Chiellini in a training session.

'The surgery lasted little more than half an hour and was perfectly successful,' the Italian soccer federation said in a statement after the Real Madrid player went under the knife at a clinic in Vienna.

Cannavaro, who said he expected to be out for a few months, will stay with the squad in Austria to offer support during the tournament. The federation said UEFA had given the 34-year-old a special accreditation for the finals.

He was replaced in the squad by Alessandro Gamberini although a decision on who will take over as captain has yet to be made.

Italy start their campaign against Netherlands in Berne on Monday before facing Romania and France in a tough Group C.

(taken from: here)