Euro 2012 Betting: Rooney joins Beckham on two red cards

They are completely different in terms of position, playing style and personality, however Wayne Rooney's red card in Montenegro added another tick to the growing list of similarities between the two Manchester United icons.

In being dismissed in Podgorica, Rooney joined the man that he inherited the weight of a demanding nation's expectations from in becoming only the second player ever to be sent off on two separate occasions for England.

Despite the media storm that his kick out at Miodrag Dzudovic provoked, his second early bath for his country is unlikely to live as long in the memory as the first, which - in another link to Beckham - saw him blamed for a World Cup exit.

But the possibility of missing as many as three games at Euro 2012 through suspension, coupled with the Three Lions having gone 15 years without progressing past the quarter-finals of a competition means that he may have spurned another chance to make his mark at an international tournament.

Rooney of course earned his move to Old Trafford with the help of some stunning displays at Euro 2004, though an injury when England led Portugal in their quarter-final wrecked what had the potential to be a Golden Boot-winning campaign.

World Cup 2006 brought injury problems and that red card, Euro 2008 was a Rooney-free party and then his most memorable contribution to last summer's trip to South Africa was his tirade directed at the travelling support after the draw with Algeria.

While there have been predictable calls for Rooney to be ditched by Fabio Capello, who is even less surprisingly blamed for picking the striker despite the arrest of his father and uncle in the build-up, there is no doubt that England are worse off without him.

That's why they have drifted slightly to 10.09/1 to bring back the trophy from Poland and Ukraine even though they confirmed their place on Friday.

Of course, if Rooney is following a similar trajectory to Beckham then there will be many highlights to go with the low points, one of which - given his haul of 73 caps at the age of 25 - could be to beat his 115-appearance record as England's most-capped outfield player.

He is 2.466/4 to start his latest critic-silencing spell by helping Manchester United triumph at Liverpool on Saturday, however if you anticipate more drama, it is 2.915/8 that the fixture features a sending off.