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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

club

Rhode Island FC Rhode Island FC is an American professional Association football, Football club headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Founded in 2019 and beginning play in 2024, the team plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL C ...

Club career

Koke was born in

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de An ...

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, and represented the clubs

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

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 () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

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 , holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Miguel Morato'', with a capacity of 52 ...

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

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) 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 capital ( ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, Koke joined

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

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

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

. On 2 July 2015 Koke signed for another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

Levante UD B Levante may refer to: People * Levante (singer) (born 1987), 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 It ...

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 . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. On 30 August 2017, Koke was loaned to third-tier club Alcoyano 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 as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut on 19 May 2018, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in a 2–4 away loss against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

. 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 Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for FC Andorra. Club career Barcelona Born in Irun, G ...

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) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

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, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

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 San Diego Loyal, who competed in the

. On 1 November 2023, Koke became the first signing in USL Championship expansion club

’s history. He was named the team's first captain on March 12, 2024, several days prior to the team's first game.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vegas, Koke 1995 births Living people People from Antequera Footballers from the Province of Málaga Spanish men's footballers Men's 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 Rhode Island FC players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen