Ecuador vs Argentina: Argentine national team causes a stir in Guayaquil.

The Argentine national team left the hotel where they were staying in the coastal city of Guayaquil (southwest) to travel to Quito by plane and play the crucial qualifying match against Ecuador for the World Cup.

The team led by Jorge Sampaoli left the hotel early in the morning heading to the airport in Guayaquil, from where they will travel to the Ecuadorian capital, a flight of less than an hour.

Several tens of fans, both Argentinians and Ecuadorians, were waiting for them at the hotel, asking for autographs and greeting the stars of the team who crowded around the bus.

In Quito, the Argentine team will stay in a hotel for a few hours until they move to the "Atahualpa" Stadium, where some groups of fans were already gathered this morning.

Although Ecuador is disqualified, today's match is crucial for Argentina, which must win in order to continue aspiring to reach the World Cup in Russia next year.

Yesterday, in a press conference at the Emelec Stadium, Sampaoli stated that the match will be different from what has been played in the qualifiers because Ecuador will go after Argentina, despite being eliminated.

"Despite the changes, the new faces that will appear, I think it will be a match in which Ecuador will come out to search for us and will try to start a new process, so it will be a different match from what we have been playing in the qualifiers," said Sampaoli.

Today, the coach limited himself to greeting the fans when leaving the hotel and did not make any statements.

At least twenty Argentine media outlets have been accredited to cover the crucial match; some of them were taking positions at the Atahualpa Olympic Stadium this morning.

Carlos Houriet, from Cadena 3 de Córdoba (Argentina), told Efe that for football fans, it is a dramatic event.

"They are more nervous about being left out or relegated than (when playing) a World Cup final," he said.

A much larger presence of spectators is expected today around the Atahualpa Stadium than in the previous match against Peru in September, in which Ecuador fought for qualification.

According to vendors, this greater influx of people is due to the dramatic nature of the match for Argentina and the arrival of all their stars, including Messi.

Meteorologists have warned that during the match, which will start at 18:30 local time (23:30 GMT), showers could occur, as has been happening in recent days. EFE