Atletico Madrid captain Koke broke the club-record for appearances on Saturday, playing his 554th competitive game in their LaLiga clash away at Sevilla.
Koke, 30 — whose full name is Jorge Resurreccion Merodio — has spent his entire career at Atletico, coming through the club’s academy.
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The record was previously held by Adelardo Rodriguez, now 83, who spent 17 years at the club between 1959 and 1976, making 553 appearances in all competitions.
Koke made his Atletico Madrid debut at the age of 17, coming off the bench in a 5-2 defeat to Barcelona at Camp Nou in September 2009.
He became a regular starter under coach Diego Simeone in the 2012-13 season and was a key player in Atletico’s LaLiga title wins in 2014 and 2021.
As well as those two league titles, Koke has won the Europa League three times — in 2010, 2012 and 2018 — the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Supercopa and three UEFA Super Cups.
He also started in Atletico’s two Champions League final defeats to rivals Real Madrid, in 2014 and 2016.
Koke became Atletico’s club captain in 2019 after the departure of Diego Godin.
