Victory for New York Giants and Madonna

Washington - The New York Giants clinched the US Super Bowl Sunday 21-17 over the New England Patriots in America's biggest sporting event of the year.

The battle between the champions of US football’s two leagues was a rematch from 2008, when the Giants, led by superstar quarterback Eli Manning, beat the Patriots, led by quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady and Manning faced off again, but the Giants, who came back from a mid-season slump to claim their league’s championship, scored a late fourth-quarter goal to win the game.

The Patriots have won three Super Bowls - in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Some 173 million Americans were expected to have tuned in for the sporting spectacle. The iconic event generated almost as much excitement as the game, with new ads screened during the four-hour broadcast, not to mention the crowd-pleasing half-time show by pop diva Madonna, which she used to promote her latest album MDNA.

The Super Bowl is a barometre of the state of the US economy, with overall spending estimated at a record 11 billion dollars, with 5.1 million Americans expected to have bought new flat screen TVs for the occasion - up from 4.5 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Super Bowl TV viewers were expected to spend an average of 63.87 dollars each on apparel, merchandise and snacks, up from 59.33 dollars last year.

The game took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, against the backdrop of a bitter struggle over union-busting within the state.

The National Football League’s (NFL) Players Association got involved in the local politics that made Indiana the 23rd "right-to-work" state in the US.

The Republican-dominated legislature adopted a law that exempts non-union employees from paying dues even when working alongside their unionized colleagues, prompting the football player’s union to declare its solidarity with "the folks who believe in collectivized action."

Advertisers shelled out at least 3.5 million dollars for each 30-second spot on Super Bowl, one of the priciest ad slots on US television.

The Pepsi ad Sunday night featured a winner of the "X Factor" television song contest show, Melanie Amaro, dressed in medieval costume and singing her plea for Pepsi to be given to everyone.

The object of her appeal, the king, was played by Elton John in an exaggerated royal costume. He hoards the drink from his subjects until Amaro pulls a lever that sends him to the dungeon.

Pop diva Madonna, known for her daring nudity and sexual innuendo, wowed the crowd with a half-time show that had her adding, instead of removing, a layer of clothing.

Madonna appeared first in the garb of an Egyptian queen, with high spike-heeled boots, mid-thigh black dress and high neckline. She entered riding on a huge throne drug into the stadium by a regiment of Roman-looking guards, reminiscent of an Anthony and Cleopatra movie set.

In her final song, Madonna donned a heavy choir robe and joined a black-and-white-clad chorus of singers to perform her 1989 hit, Like a Prayer.

Madonna had been nervous about her performance, and with good reason. The late Michael Jackson provoked scandal in 1993 by constantly grabbing his crotch while surrounded by singing children during his "Heal the World" concert.

In 2004, his sister Janet Jackson had what was called a "wardrobe malfunction" when one of her breasts was briefly exposed. Broadcaster CBS was fined half a million dollars by the Federal Communications Commission for violating broadcast standards.

With that background, Madonna was a bit anxious.

"Oh my god, I’m so nervous. You have no idea," the superstar told CNN in a pre-Super Bowl interview. "I have eight minutes to set it up and seven minutes to take it down. I have 12 minutes to put on the greatest show on Earth. Okay, that’s a lot of pressure."