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 In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

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 Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, and represented the clubs

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

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 Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

home draw against

CD Huétor Tájar Club Deportivo Agroisa Huétor Tájar is a Spanish football team based in Huétor-Tájar, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1940, it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 9, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Migu ...

at the age of just 15. In 2011, after having trials at

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

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 In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

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 Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

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 The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

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 Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

. On 16 July 2019, after spending the campaign as a third-choice behind

Oier Olazábal Oier Olazábal Paredes (born 14 September 1989), known simply as Oier, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for FC Andorra. Club career Barcelona Born in Irun, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Oier arrived in FC Barcelona's ...

and Aitor Fernández, he was loaned to second division club

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

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

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