Word NewsBy Thom Drake
PUBLISHED: 04:32 EST, 9 August 2013 | UPDATED: 04:35 EST, 9 August 2013
Southampton's Japanese defender Maya Yoshida is to appear next to Barcelona's Lionel Messi on the cover of FIFA 14.
The club have announced a new partnership with Electronic Arts Inc. which means that the defender is to be featured on the Japanese cover of the new game.
Yoshida has played 30 times for his native Japan, and signed for Southampton at the beginning of last season. As well as Messi, he will be next to Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe.
After finding out he would be on the Japanese cover, Yoshida said to the official Southampton website: ' It's brilliant. I was really pleased when I heard that I would be on the cover of FIFA 14, and to be featuring alongside Messi is a great honour.
'It's not only nice for me, but also for Southampton Football Club because the game is such a huge platform, so to be among the list of global cover stars means so much to me and the Club.
'Hopefully it will encourage fans back home to pick up the controller and play as Saints!'
Southampton fans will also have an opportunity to play the game when the EA Sprots Dugout goes to St Mary's during some games during the season.
A free download of a special FIFA 14 cover showing three Southampton players will be available on September 27 when the game launches in the UK.
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