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DALLAS, Texas — A record crowd 105,121 turned out for the first National Football League game at the Cowboys' new billion-dollar stadium Sunday, but the New York Giants didn't send them home happy.

New York's Lawrence Tynes booted a 37-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Giants to a 33-31 victory in front of a massive audience that included standing-room only revelers, sports world luminaries like basketball's LeBron James and former US president George W. Bush - who oversaw the pre-game coin toss.

Dallas had taken a 31-30 lead through a touchdown run by Felix Jones with 3:40 remaining.

But Giants quarterback Eli Manning piloted a 56-yard, seven-play drived to set up Tynes's winning kick.

In fact, Tynes made the kick twice, as Dallas called timeout a fraction of a second before the ball was snapped to him the first time - forcing him to have to do it again.

It was a fittingly suspenseful end to a rollicking contest in which the lead changed more than half a dozen times and neither team led by more than half a dozen points.

Ultimately, however, four turnovers proved too much for the Cowboys to overcome. Quarterback Tony Romo threw three interceptions that led to Giants TDs as New York shrugged off the loss of defensive end Justin Tuck with a shoulder injury and receiver Domenik Hixon to a knee injury.

The attendance figure broke the previous record of 103,467 for a regular season game, set when the Arizona Cardinals played the San Francisco 49ers at fabled Azteca Stadium in Mexico City in 2005.

The crowd included some 30,000 in standing-room "party plazas" at either end of the stunning venue, which has about 75,000 seats, a retractable roof and a massive video board that has already become a defining feature of the facility.

The roof slid open about 90 minutes before kickoff. Cowboys safety Ken Hamlin and linebacker Bradie James were the first players out of the tunnel.

Jordin Sparks, daughter of former Giants and Cowboys defensive back Phillippi Sparks, sang the national anthem as an American flag the size of the field was unfurled.

Cowboys cheerleaders danced on raised platforms, and former team greats were recognized at halftime.

Romo admitted he was especially disappointed that all the hoopla ended with a Cowboys defeat.

"I think we definitely wanted to win this one, extra motivation," Romo said. "It's frustrating. I'm just really, really disappointed in myself right now."

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.

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