Musket Rounds: Euro 2012, Racism, Boyd, Cervi, Revs Reserves, and More

It was an action-packed weekend in the world of international soccer, with the start of the 2012 UEFA European Championships making headlines worldwide. There's been some pretty great stuff so far in the tournament, too. The USA also played their first qualifier for the 2014 World Cup under Jurgen Klinsmann, winning in a rather unimpressive 3-1 match in Tampa. Not much happened that was New England Revolution-related, but we'll get to some of that, too, in today's Rounds.

Revolution Links

Reserves: Crew 1, Revs 0 | New England Revolution
The Revolution reserves lost 0-1 to the Columbus Crew this weekend.

Italy is Home in the North End - New England Soccer Today
Julian Cardillo wrote a long-form piece about the North End in Boston and how it responds to Italy's participation in the Euros. There's a cool mix of opinions and attitudes and an interesting way that the people up there weave Italian soccer into the general fabric of Boston sports.

Other Soccer Links

What Would Thuram Do? - Soccer Politics/The Politics of Football
This is a really, really good piece from Laurent Dubois. Just read it. Already hearing that players were getting racially abused during training and games anyway.

The joys of death: Euros expansion threatens tournament’s identity - Max Grieve
Max Grieve explains why expanding the European Championships to 24 teams threatens everything that makes the tournament truly special.

Qualifying Perspective: USA vs. Antigua and Barbuda " Soccer Soap Box
Bob Madaio takes a look at conflicting perspectives over the USA victory over Antigua and Barbuda. For the record, Bob is dead wrong about Klinsi's post-Brazil comments, and I will not back down from that. But this is a good piece.

Celtic have released Dominic Cervi " Over There
It's disappointing that Cervi never caught on at Celtic, but I'm glad he'll now have a chance at regular first-team soccer. I remember seeing him play in some US youth international tourney (U-20 World Cup, maybe?), and he looked pretty good. One to watch, certainly.

Boyd Joins Rapid Vienna - Yanks Abroad
Good, now Terrence Boyd can get regular first-team minutes. Stop calling him into the US team. He's not ready.