The last seconds decide the whole world. That was what Aline Rosas, left wing of Brazilian women's handball team, said after yesterday's game in which Brazil got leveled in the last seconds. However, this sentence can also be used to describe the men's Olympic handball event competed in Beijing on Tuesday.

Russia, bronze medalist at Athens Games upset African champion Egypt 28-27 in a breathtaking game. With fifteen seconds to go on the clock, referees awarded Russia a free after the Egyptian side illegally intercepted their attack. Russian left back Alexey Rastvortsev broke through the defending line and netted in the decisive winner.

"There should always be someone from the team to stand up and take the responsibility. This time it was me, and luckily I made it,"said Rastvortsev after the match.

This was the second time that Egypt suffered a last-seconds setback. In last Sunday's game against Denmark, Egyptians saw their victory ruined by Lars Christiansen's last second shot.

However, no one can always be the lucky dog. Today the Danes, winner of 2008 European Championship, surrendered to the South Korean team 30-31 in the last seconds, when right wing Jung Suyoung's powerful shot hit Danish goalie's leg and refracted into the net.

"It was an exciting game but unfortunately, we lost it,"said Ulrik Wilbek, coach of Denmark after the match."It is difficult to play against South Korea. They are fast and good at movement. But our defence is surprisingly bad, especially in the second half."

It seemed that those who possessed the ball in the last seconds would have chance to "decide the world". But runner-up of 2007 World Championship Poland missed such a chance.

Trailing 29-30 and possessing the ball three seconds before the buzzer, Poland called for a timeout to plan the final attack. However, Marcin Lijewski's long shot was blocked by the keeper and the Polish side had to taste the sour defeat.

With star center back Ivano Balic sideliner due to muscle rupture in the right calf, reigning Olympic tit Croatia still roared past Brazil 33-14 in an earlier match. Meanwhile, France also enjoyed an easy win after overwhelming host China 33-19. The victory also sent France to the top place of the standings in Pool A.

"We are not in the best form now. I hope the players can improve their performance in the coming games. Our target is to enter the final,"said French coach Claude Onesta, whose team have pocketed two easy wins at Beijing Games.

"Dark horse" Iceland received their second triumph today. As the 8th placer of 2007 World Championship, the Icelanders stunned winner of the same tournament Germany 33-29, which made them the only team to keep a both-win record in Group B.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)