Koke

Koke is a Spanish professional footballer

Jorge Resurrección Merodio (born 8 January 1992), known as Koke [ˈkoke], is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team as a midfielder.

He spent most of his career with Atlético Madrid since making his debut with the first team in 2009, playing over 300 official games and winning six honours, including the 2014 national championship and the 2012 and 2018 Europa League tournaments.

Koke won the 2013 European Championship with the Spanish under-21 team. He also made his debut for the full side that year, and represented the country at two World Cups and Euro 2016.

On 23 October 2016, Koke was sent off for the first time in his career, for two yellow cards in a 0–1 loss at Sevilla. Only two months after turning 26, he entered the top 10 appearance makers in Atléti history with his 361st against Deportivo de La Coruña on 1 April 2018.

Koke was named in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup, and was also included in the final list for the tournament. On 19 June, he made his debut in the tournament after replacing Xabi Alonso at half-time as the champions trailed 0–2 to Chile at the Maracanã in the second group game, but could not change the scoreline as elimination was confirmed. He started in the final fixture, a 3–0 victory over Australia.

Koke was also selected by manager Julen Lopetegui for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 1 July, he was one of two Spanish players to miss his attempt in the round-of-16 shootout against Russia, a 3–4 loss in Moscow.

Koke is right-footed, but his versatility allows him to play as right, left or central midfielder. He is also known for his passing, and ability to create attacking opportunities.

He earned the plaudits of his peers, including Barcelona's Xavi who regarded him as his successor