The midfielder was targeted as the dangerman and suffered brutally at the hands of Croatia as the visitors won the vital Euro 2008 encounter 2-3.
Joe gave his all and at one point was holding his back. He was eventually taken off by Steve McClaren in his last act as England boss.
Joe must be considered a doubt for the Derby match and he will be joined on the ever-growing injured list by John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho. Paulo Ferreria is also injured.
It was a miserable night for the Chelsea players as only Shaun Wright-Phillips lived up to the pre-match hype.
SWP's opening 20 minute play look good enough but he lasted just 45 minutes before being replaced by David Beckham.
Wayne Bridge just had one of those nights and was probably the least impressive performer on the pitch.
Frank Lampard did manage to exorcise the ghost of England penalty cock-ups by notching the first goal from the spot but was not particularly dominant.
He did manage to win the man of the match award - I wonder what he will be doing with the celebratory bottle of champers?