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Tucsonans celebrate Mexico's World Cup victory over Iran

June 12, 2006, 08:27 AM EDT

With the popularity of the World Cup and the Mexican national soccer team in Southern Arizona, business owners are cashing in.

Scores of Tucsonans gathered around TV sets at bars, restaurants, and local get-togethers to cheer on Mexico against Iran.

Soccer fan Corina Bracamonte said, "It just shows the impact that Hispanics have here in the United States."

Bracamonte points out that promotions for the World Cup here in Southern Arizona overwhelmingly feature the national squad from Mexico, even more so than Team USA.

Bracamonte said, "Here in Tucson, there's a lot of Hispanics."

Marketing experts say that those Hispanics have big buying power, and bars and restaurants like El Dorado on 4th Avenue, a popular spot for soccer fans to watch games, are benefiting from soccer-crazed fans that provide a big business boost by watching the matchups at the bars.

"Every chance we get, we watch it," says Tucsonan Fredy Rivera.

Roberto Gonzales, owner of the El Dorado Restaurant said, "There are a lot of people, a lot of fans that come to watch the matches."

"It's huge," says Rivera. "Our family follows it as much as we can."

Since the World Cup games are in Germany, in a European time zone, the matchups air early in the morning here in the U.S.

Sunday's Mexico-Iran game aired at 9 a.m.

It's against the law for bars to serve alcohol until 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings, however, business owners say they're still benefiting, because people still come in to watch the game over breakfast, and instead of alcohol, they order plenty of coffee and juices.

Gonzales said, "Of course, for business, it's much better for us, even in the morning. We promote for this."