It’s not really “the best members of the team” when the best members play in the senior team if they are good enough.

Even then, I’m happy for Japan’s success lately and hopefully they do great in the next World Cup.

Not sure if related but “mono” = “monkey” is also a kinda popular nickname for goalkeepers. I would say gorilla is a better version of the nickname

Some examples

Navarro Montoya = https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Navarro_Montoya

Burgos = https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germán_Burgos

Monetti = https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Monetti

Sanchez = https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Sánchez_(footballer,_born_1987)

Martinez = https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramiro_Martínez_(footballer)

(some of them you might have to open spanish version of wiki to see the nickname)