{"id":376338,"date":"2026-04-05T13:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T13:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/376338\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T13:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T13:40:09","slug":"why-israeli-goalkeeper-daniel-peretz-is-making-headlines-in-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/376338\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz is making headlines in Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peretz emerged as one of the more talked-about figures in British football coverage after helping Southampton beat Arsenal for the British FA Cup.<\/p>\n

Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz<\/a> drew widespread British media attention over the weekend after helping Southampton<\/a>, a club from England\u2019s second-tier Championship, defeat Arsenal 2-1 in the FA Cup quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

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The result was treated in Britain as a major upset. Arsenal is one of England\u2019s biggest clubs and a Premier League contender, while Southampton\u2019s victory sent it to the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley, England\u2019s national stadium.<\/p>\n

Peretz<\/a>, who is on loan at Southampton from Bayern Munich, stood at the center of the coverage for two reasons: his performance in the win and a widely read interview published before the match.<\/p>\n

The strongest UK coverage came from The Guardian, which published an in-depth interview with Peretz ahead of the game. In it, the Israeli international spoke about Southampton\u2019s confidence before facing Arsenal, concern for family members in Tel Aviv living under the threat of air raid sirens, and football\u2019s role as a source of focus during wartime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of respect for Arsenal, but we are not afraid,\u201d Peretz told The Guardian. \u201cIf someone does not believing 100%, then he should not come to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Southampton's<\/p>\n

Southampton’s Daniel Peretz during the warm up before the match. (credit: REUTERS\/Tony O Brien)<\/p>\n

He also described the strain of following events in Israel while continuing his career abroad, saying football had become \u201ca really good therapy\u201d and a way to make Israelis proud.<\/p>\n

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The interview gave British readers a broader picture of Peretz beyond the match itself. He spoke about admiring Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, training alongside England captain Harry Kane, and making his Champions League debut, while also indicating that his long-term future would likely depend on how Southampton\u2019s season ends. Reports noted that Southampton holds a reported buy option on the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

Pertz’s composure helps Southamptom beat Arsenal<\/p>\n

After the match, British reports highlighted Peretz\u2019s composure and several important saves as Southampton absorbed late Arsenal pressure to reach the final four of England\u2019s oldest and most prestigious knockout soccer competition. His display was presented as one of the important factors in Southampton\u2019s win and in the club\u2019s growing belief during its strong recent run.<\/p>\n

A secondary media angle centered on Peretz\u2019s marriage to Israeli singer Noa Kirel<\/a>, one of Israel\u2019s best-known pop stars and a Eurovision star. British tabloid coverage leaned heavily into that aspect of the story, with The Sun revisiting Peretz\u2019s account of first noticing Kirel while watching the Eurovision Song Contest and later marrying her in November 2025.<\/p>\n

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Several reports repeated an Israeli media comparison of the couple to David and Victoria Beckham, the former England soccer star and the pop singer-turned-fashion figure once known globally as \u201cPosh Spice.\u201d In that framing, Peretz and Kirel were described as \u201cIsrael\u2019s Posh and Becks,\u201d a British shorthand that would immediately be recognized as referring to a high-profile celebrity sports couple.<\/p>\n

That celebrity angle added another layer to a weekend in which Peretz emerged as one of the more talked-about figures in British football coverage. The attention reflected both the scale of Southampton\u2019s result and Peretz\u2019s growing profile at the club, where he has increasingly been portrayed as an important figure in the push for promotion to the Premier League and in the team\u2019s FA Cup run.<\/p>\n

For Peretz, the weekend marked a rare moment in which an Israeli soccer player stood at the center of a major British sports story, driven by a standout cup upset, a strong personal interview, and public fascination with a marriage that has made the couple one of Israel\u2019s most recognizable celebrity pairings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peretz emerged as one of the more talked-about figures in British football coverage after helping Southampton beat Arsenal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4026,14532,180524,444,53286,85,46,122245,180523,2619,31239,105,81414],"class_list":{"0":"post-376338","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-bayern-munich","10":"tag-british-football-coverage","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-harry-kane","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-manuel-neuer","16":"tag-peretz","17":"tag-premier-league","18":"tag-southampton","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-wembley"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}