There was no need to apologize at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
No need to apologize for the vuvuzelas. No need to apologize for finishing off one or two or 10 Tecates. No need to apologize for leaving the house Sunday morning dressed as an Aztec warrior.
When you're México and you beat Brazil in fútbol, there are no apologies, no asterisks.
Playing in front of 84,516 at Cowboys Stadium, the Mexican national soccer team rode first-half goals by Giovani Dos Santos and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez to a 2-0 victory Sunday over a young and inexperienced Brazil team.
How young and how inexperienced, frankly, is not México's problem.
"We won versus a powerful team," México coach José Manuel de la Torre said after the contest. "It's part of the preparation. They are preparing for the Olympic Games. We have the (World Cup) qualifying match against Guyana.
"It's not always that you can win against a strong team like this. You have to take your opportunities. We killed two birds with one stone, beating a strong opponent and also getting what we needed for our preparation."
Mexico begins its World Cup qualifying run against Guyana on Friday in México City.
By all measures, the Mexicans appear to be ready. Dominating on defense and frustrating its mostly younger opponents, México struck early on Dos Santos' bender off the far right goal post, and Brazil never seemed to recover.
Later, Brazil coach Mano Menezes called the Mexican side "fortunate" to get the goal at the 22-minute mark.
"Giovani was crossing to the box and scored a goal," Menezes said.
Maybe Dos Santos was and maybe he wasn't.
The "shot" came after a long pass from midfielder Pablo Barrera, and whether it was a crossing attempt or not, Dos Santos did his part by creating space to get the ball away from an extreme angle. It moved briskly through the six-yard box and hooked in right at the far post, bringing the crowd -- the largest ever to see a soccer match in Texas -- roaring to its feet.
Until that point, the Brazilians had controlled the time of possession.
And even after the first goal, as Menezes pointed out, "Brazil still kept control. But we made a mistake passing the ball back into the box, which shouldn't be done.
"We expected some mistakes for a team that's only playing its third game and was behind in the score for the first time. Mexico was more effective."
Menezes was right, in some respects. The yellow jerseys were familiar, but there was no Ronaldinho, no Kaká, as Brazil -- which doesn't have to qualify for the 2014 World Cup as the host country -- has opted to use this period of friendlies to prepare its mostly under-23 team for the Olympics.
But it's not like the perennial soccer superpower doesn't have young talent growing on its trees like bananas. Brazil tuned up for its Texas visit by defeating Denmark and the United States. Menezes' team is hardly the international freshmen that some have made them out to be.
"We came into this game having played well in two significant wins," Menezes said. "But we started out rushing, and the Mexican team was well positioned in the back. We ended up giving them opportunities for counter-attacks, which they like."
Santana throws first no-hitter in Mets' history
NEW YORK -- In the 51st season for the franchise, Johan Santana threw the Mets' first no-hitter last Friday night, pitching them to an 8-0 win over the Cardinals before a crowd of 27,069 at Citi Field. Santana (3-2), who threw 134 pitches, walked five and struck out eight, seemed to get stronger as the game wore on.
It took 8,020 games to do it, but the Mets finally got that elusive no-hitter -- with a little help from Mike Baxter, as well as third-base umpire Adrian Johnson.
"I knew how the Mets had never had a no-hitter, I never had one," said Santana, adding he's never even thrown one in a video game. "So this is very special. We worked very hard, all the things that we have gone through, that I have been through.
This is very, very special and I know this means a lot to New York."