Gray,
I personally have a different opinion on Olympics.
I thought standard improved vastly compared to Sydney, and many of the players we saw in the tournament can be a real star in the future.
Hirayama for Japan, for one, is touted to become the next big "thing" even if I have my doubt about him. As for Argentinians, I hope won day we can call them one of the greatest generation ever lived. The standard is just incredible with the likes of Tevez, D'ale, Gonzalez, Delgado, Collicini, Heinze, et al to go with established stars such as Zanetti, Ayala, and co.
Anyway, I dont think any of the current Asian players circulating is capable of emulating Zidane, Figo, Del Piero, Raul, Batistuta et al. The infrastructure of spotting talent and developing them isnt simply in place. And surely we can introduce organized Amateur leagues such as Sunday Teams they have it in England and Europe. And as for South Americans, we simply isnt as passionate as much them, and certainly has too much to do, and too many career choices to become good through the streets. Only way is to create an system where young talented ones are spotted early, and nurtured by professionals and clubs just like the Europeans. I guess Japan does this best, and that is the main reason why we were able bring up second generation stars such as Nakamura, Ono, and Nakata (1.5 would be more correct).