FIFA 10 bumped to October 20

EA Sports is well aware that soccer (also read: football) enjoys the bulk of its popularity abroad. As such, the publisher has taken to naming regional heroes to the cover of its annual footie sim, FIFA Soccer. As such, the publisher said last week that Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, Arsenal's Theo Walcott, and Chelsea's Frank Lampard would front the cover of FIFA 10 in the UK.

Today, EA Sports teased out the aforementioned dynamos' North American equivalents, saying Major League Soccer stars Cuauhtemoc Blanco of Chicago Fire and Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA will appear on the cover of FIFA 10 in North America. The North American athletes will be joined by Lampard, who EA Sports noted will be featured on the game's cover globally.

A five-time MVP of the Mexican Premier League and two-time MLS All-Star, Blanco joined the Chicago Fire as midfielder in 2007. Also a prominent MLS athlete, Kljestan led Chivas USA in 2008, earning team MVP with the most goals scored on the year. Earning his international cover-star status, Chelsea's Lampard is only the second English Premier League midfielder to have scored more than 100 career goals.

Along with revealing the box art for FIFA 10, EA Sports also noted that the game is now expected to arrive in North America on October 20, nearly three weeks after its previously announced international release of October 2.

[UPDATE] Following the publication of this article, EA Sports clarified the release schedule of FIFA 10 in Europe, saying that the game remains on track to release in the region on October 2.

In development at EA Canada, FIFA 10 will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, DS, and PC. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of FIFA 10.