Koke (born 1992)

Jorge Resurrección Merodio, commonly known as Koke (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkoke]; born 8 January 1992), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid in La Liga, as a midfielder.
Club career
Koke was born in Madrid. Having arrived at Atlético Madrid's youth system at the age of eight, he made his debut for the first team on 19 September 2009, playing in the second half of a 2–5 away loss against FC Barcelona.[1] Again from the bench he appeared in the next La Liga round, at home against UD Almería (2–2).[2] Koke scored his first goal for Atlético against Sevilla FC on 26 February 2011, his 47th-minute header from a Diego Forlán cross being the 1–1 equalizer in an eventual 2–2 home draw.[3] He finished his first full season as a professional with 17 games, as the Colchoneros finished seventh and qualified for the UEFA Europa League. Koke was again an important midfield unit for Atlético in the 2011–12 campaign, under both Gregorio Manzano and his successor Diego Simeone. On 29 April 2012 he netted his first league goal of the season, opening the score in the 62nd minute of an eventual 2–2 draw at Real Betis.[4] Aged only 20, Koke came of age during 2012–13, starting in 38 of his 48 official appearances and scoring three goals – this included 112 minutes of play in the season's Copa del Rey final, won against Real Madrid.[5] He also began developing above-average passing skills, either through set pieces or open play.[6][7] On 9 April 2014 Koke scored his seventh official goal of the campaign, netting the game's only in the UEFA Champions League tie against Barcelona to send Atlético to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 1974.[8][9] 
International career
Koke was a member of the Spanish team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,[10] playing all three games as the tournament ended in the group stage for the nation. He made his debut for the full side on 14 August 2013, replacing Santi Cazorla for the final 12 minutes of a 2–0 friendly win in Ecuador.
==External links==
Category:Players
Category:Atlético Madrid players