Argentine star Lionel Messi regretted on Monday the resignation of Juan Roman Riquelme from the Argentine soccer team, adding "he was very important for the team."

"I think that Roman is a great player, but he is not here and we must seek for other alternatives," Messi said when arriving in Buenos Aires to join the team training for the matches against Venezuela and Bolivia in the World Cup qualifiers.

Riquelme quitted the national team due to differences with coach Diego Maradona.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2009)