Joey: Rooney red card inevitable

Croatia keeper Joey Didulica believes it is 'inevitable' that England's teen sensation Wayne Rooney will be sent off on Monday night.

The pugnacious Everton forward marked his arrival on the big stage with a double in the win over Switzerland, but Croatia are prepared to provoke the marauding Merseysider in Estadio da Luz.

After clashing with Claude Makelele against France, but escaping punishment, Rooney was yellow carded in the Swiss success for a late lunge at keeper Jorg Stiel.

A lot of focus has been placed on the 18-year-old's temperament but he has claimed there is no prospect of altering his style during the European Championship.

"All is fair in love and war," affirmed Didulica. "It's inevitable he will be sent off.

"If we can provoke him the right way, he will definitely lash out.

"Rooney has been playing above himself and, hopefully for this game, he'll come back down to earth.

"He's definitely a good player but he's also aggressive which is maybe to our advantage.

"Hopefully for us, something could pop into his head, like with his studs up to the Swiss goalkeeper. To me, that was a red card.

"You've got to try and use every little tactic you can," he told The Mirror. "It's not a dirty tactic, it's just a tactic which is there."

Didulica is not in the starting line-up because Tomislav Butina is Otto Baric's number one.