France complete sweep with European handball title

FRANCE have added the European men's handball title to their gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships - becoming the first nation to hold all three honours at the same time.

STAR MAN: Nikola Karabatic scored six as France secured a sweep of all handball's major titles at the European Championship (Getty Images)

Croatia were out for revenge following their home defeat to France in last year's world final in Zagreb but the pre-match favourites edged a tense tussle 25-21 in Vienna.

French goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer played an influential role, beating away three penalty shots as he pulled off 12 key saves in total.

Nikola Karabatic was the main attacking threat, helping his team overrun the second half Croatian challenge with six goals, including five French strikes without reply just after the restart, an ultimately decisive scoring run.

"We played reasonably well in the first half but our shooting was not as accurate as it should be. In the second half we were much the better team," said Karabatic.

"The treble is finally ours and it means so much.

"We got better and more confident with every match we played and we totally deserved this trophy."

Elsewhere, Olympic silver medallists Iceland defeated Poland 29-26 to claim the third place play-off.