Aug. 20, 2008

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Electronic Arts Inc. has announced that Maurice Edu, Maryland men's soccer alumnus and current Toronto FC star, will be on the cover of EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 09.

Edu, who recently started in all three matches for the United States in Beijing in his first Olympic games, will become the first and only Major League Soccer player to appear as a customized Mii character exclusively for the Wii home video game system.

"I got a kick out of my Mii because it looks like he has a lot of fun on the pitch and he's capable of pulling off some wild moves," Edu said on EA's official website. "It's fun to take control of my character and blast outrageous shots on goal with a flick of the wrist."

Earlier this month, Edu participated in a body motion capture session with the EA videogame development team in British Columbia. Edu's body movements, individual moves and playing style were captured and digitized, and will become the life-like movement of his virtual self in FIFA Soccer 09 and future versions of the game.

Edu joins Brazillian International Ronaldinho and Mexican national team goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa as cover athletes and spokespersons for the game in the U.S., Canada and other regions in North America.

The game is also available on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC DVD, Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS and Mobile. FIFA 09.