Jorge Ruiz Ojeda (born 27 September 1995), known as Koke Vegas or simply Koke, is a Spanish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a goalkeeper for USL Championship club

San Diego Loyal San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the ...

Club career

Koke was born in

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de Andalucía'') because of its central locat ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, Andalusia, and represented the clubs

, Sevilla and CD Puerto Malagueño as a youth. On 16 April 2011, he made his senior debut for the former, coming on as a late substitute in a 0–0 Tercera División home draw against CD Huétor Tájar at the age of just 15. In 2011, after having trials at Villarreal and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, Koke joined

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

and returned to youth football. He was promoted to the reserves in 2013, in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. On 2 July 2015 Koke signed for another reserve team,

Levante UD B Levante may refer to: People * Levante (singer), Italian pop singer-songwriter * LeVante Bellamy (born 1996), American football player Places * Levante, Spain, the eastern Iberian coastal region of Spain * Riviera di Levante, an Italian name f ...

also in the third tier. He made his professional debut on 4 September 2016, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Gimnàstic de Tarragona in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. On 30 August 2017, Koke was loaned to third-tier club

Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1928 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games in ''Estadio El Collao'', with a 4,850-seat ...

for a year. The following 16 January, his loan was cut short and he was definitely included in the first team. Koke made his La Liga debut on 19 May 2018, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in a 2–4 away loss against Celta de Vigo. On 16 July 2019, after spending the campaign as a third-choice behind Oier Olazábal and Aitor Fernández, he was loaned to second division club Deportivo La Coruña for a year. On 31 January 2020, as Oier left for Espanyol, Koke was recalled by Levante. He was initially a backup to Fernández, but was overtaken by fellow youth graduate Dani Cárdenas during the 2020–21 campaign. On 1 February 2021, Koke moved to second division side

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. On 31 August, he terminated his deal with the ''Granotes''. On 7 January 2022, Koke moved to second division US side

, who compete in the USL Championship.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vegas, Koke 1995 births Living people People from Antequera Sportspeople from the Province of Málaga Spanish footballers Footballers from Andalusia Association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Antequera CF footballers RCD Espanyol B footballers Atlético Levante UD players Levante UD footballers CD Alcoyano footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players RCD Mallorca players San Diego Loyal SC players