MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Excited Mexicans clutching buckets of popcorn and soft drinks in cinemas ducked whenever the ball was kicked toward them as they watched Sunday's big game between America and Guadalajara in 3D.

At the packed Azteca, thousands more had a more traditional view of the match between the country's two most popular teams which finished with a 1-0 victory to America after an early goal by Colombian Aquivaldo Mosquera.

"It was incredible," said 25-year-old Claudia Fernandez. "I'd already seen films in this format, but watch a football match, never, and I don't regret it because it's much more exciting."

The big-screen view was more electrifying than the stadium for some fans in Guadalajara and Monterrey, who were able to see the match in cinemas in 3D, a world first according to broadcasters Televisa, who plan a repeat for the Apertura championship final.

America are second in Group Two of the Apertura, behind Morelia on goal difference after the leaders lost 2-1 at Puebla.

Guadalajara, traditionally an attacking team, have played more defensively since appointing the cautious Raul Arias as coach last month and his team struggled to take the initiative after the early goal forced them to look for an equaliser.

Toluca, runaway leaders of Group One, fell to a rare defeat, 2-1 against Estudiantes. San Luis, second in the group, also lost, 1-0 away to Tigres UANL.

Title holders Pumas UNAM scored twice in the final seven minutes for a rare victory in Group Three, 2-1 at home against Monterrey. They are bottom of the group, 14 points behind leaders Santos Laguna.

Pumas fell behind in the 72nd minute to a fine solo goal by Chile striker Humberto Suazo but Pablo Barrera equalised in the 83rd minute and Ismael Iniguez headed the winner from a corner in the 85th.

(Reporting by Carlos Calvo in Mexico, writing by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires, editing by Ian Ransom)

2009 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. "Reuters" and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. For additional information on other Reuters media services please visit http://about.reuters.com/media/.

Posted at 05:15PM Oct 26, 2009 by Lou Wallace in Entertain  |  Comments[0]