France edges Croatia in men's handball

BEIJING (AP) France beat Croatia 23-19 on Thursday, handing the defending Olympic men's handball champion its first loss of the Beijing Games.

It was France's closest game of the Olympics; the French had won their first two games by a combined 22 goals.

The score was tied at 18, but France scored five of the final six goals to improve to 3-0. Croatia dropped to 2-1.

Denmark's Mikkel Hansen scored in the final minute to beat Russia 25-24. It was Denmark's first win of the tournament, while the Russians dropped to 1-2.

Germany defeated Egypt 25-23. The game was tied at 23 before Michael Kraus and Dominik Klein scored in the final four minutes.

Germany improved to 2-1. Egypt, 0-2-1, has lost its last two games by a combined three goals.

Poland beat Brazil 28-25, after Bartosz Jurecki scored four goals in the last nine minutes to help his team pull away from a 22-22 tie.

In other games, South Korea defeated Iceland 22-21 - both teams are now 2-1 - and Spain beat China 36-22 to improve to 2-1.

The Spaniards outscored the Chinese 20-10 in the second half and made 36 of 49 shots. China has lost each of its three matches by 14 goals.

Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.