Argentina's bid to qualify for next year's World Cup took a hit in a 2-0 loss to Ecuador on Wednesday.
The goals came from Walter Ayovi in the 72nd minute and Pablo Palacios in the 84th.
Despite the result, the two-time World Cup champion stayed in the top four in South America's standings. The top four advance automatically to next year's finals in South Africa. Ecuador improved to 20, two less than Argentina.
This is the third straight lackluster result for Argentina and calls into question the coaching of Maradona, who took over in November. In the last three games, Argentina lost 6-1 at Bolivia and defeated Colombia 1-0 on Saturday.
Carlos Tevez had a chance to give Argentina a 1-0 lead in the 29th on a penalty, but was blocked.
Quito's altitude of 2,850 meters (9,300 feet) seemed to bother Argentina, just as the altitude in La Paz - 3,650 meters (12,000 feet) - did in April.
Sapa-AP
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