Rosicky lamented going through the "worst period of my career" after being ruled out of this summer's showpiece.

The Arsenal midfielder picked up the injury in the Gunners' FA Cup fourth-round clash with Newcastle in January and had been hoping to recover in time to lead his country at the showpiece tournament in Austria and Switzerland.

However, the 27-year-old revealed he needs to undergo surgery to remedy the problem, ruling him out for much of the off-season.

"I want to announce that I won't be able to play at the European Championship," Rosicky told a press conference in Prague on Friday.

"I have no other option than to undergo the operation - the tendon is likely more damaged than it had seemed.

"This is the worst period of my career. I missed the entire spring with Arsenal and great matches in the Premier League and the Champions League.

"I thought that after weeks of treatment in Czech Republic, it would be fine.

"But when I resumed training it immediately returned.

"I restarted training slowly but never made it to full pace. The first five days it was okay, but later I started to add the load. When I tried hard, it simply could not go.

"I have no other option than the operation. This will solve the problem."

Rosicky, who will go under the knife in London on Tuesday, does not know how long he will be out for but expects it to be a minimum of two months.

"It is hard to estimate," he said. We will know after the surgery. They must open it and have a look what is inside. It will be two months minimum."

The Czechs are sure to be hit hard by the loss of Rosicky, who took over the skipper's armband from the talismanic Pavel Nedved when the Juventus veteran announced his international retirement after the 2006 World Cup.

Nedved has now been touted as a possible replacement for Rosicky in the Euro 2008 squad, but the Gunners midfielder will not be the one to try to convince the 35-year-old to come out of retirement.

"Pavel would be a great reinforcement, but I do not know what he will decide," said Rosicky.

"The decision is up to him. If he decided to quit, then he must say if he wants to return."

Whoever fills the void, Rosicky reckons his countrymen will perform well in his absence.

"I'm an optimist," he continued. "I think that the Czech team will be successful at the championship even without me. I trust the team."

Czech Republic kick off their Euro 2008 campaign against Switzerland on June 7 before meeting Turkey and Portugal in their other Group A fixtures.