Has Wiggins still got this Lollipop?

It is the second day of the Commonwealth Games and with 10 gold medals for England and Scotland in just the first day Lollipop and I are reflecting on an excellent start.

For athletes like Swimmer Ross Murdoch and Renicks sisters Kimberley and Louise yesterday was a dream come true but for Olympic champion Sir Bradley Wiggins it was a day to forget and reflect. Wiggins competed in just one event at the Glasgow Commonwealth games but his team had to settle for a silver medal in the men’s 4,000m team pursuit as Australia beat England in the final.

Wiggins said: “We were all on different levels,” as the team of him, Steven Burke, Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant finished more than five seconds adrift of their opponents.

He added: “We’ve had limited preparations for this and hopefully we will look back in two years’ time with gold medals around our necks thinking ‘this was the starting point in Glasgow.”

But Lollipop was not just surprised by the result. We expected Wiggins to take part in more events at the games like the individual pursuit and the time trial where he won Olympic gold in London 2012. However the 34-year-old chose to ride in just one competition and has now ruled out doing any grand tours. The 2012 Tour de France champ was not chosen for this year’s road event. Team Sky went for last year’s winner Chris Froome to lead who coincidently crashed out in the first week.

Although he has not ruled out all road events Wiggins said: “The road is quite cut-throat. The track feels more like a family and a closer-knit group of people.”

Our champ will now make track racing his priority as he targets gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

But has the senior gold medallist got what it takes to win in 2016?

Currently Wiggin’s only win of 2014 has been At the Tour of California, where he won the time trial on stage two by a margin of 40 seconds.

In the Tour de France Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali has all but wrapped up his overall victory after winning the summit finish at Hautacam.

In an event where Lollipop is used to seeing Brits triumph it’s disheartening to see Team Sky not in the running.

After being shunned by Team Sky Wiggin’s perception of road events have changed. In the past he has also admitted how he struggled with his rise to household-name status, and said there are times he wishes he had never won.

However after training in the velodrome our Champ has his eyes firmly set on 2016.

Wiggins said: “The last six or seven weeks since I’ve been back on the track have just been really refreshing and a good distraction from all of that Tour de France nonsense.”

His bitterness towards the event has been clearly noted by Lollipop but unfortunately so has his drop in performance. At 34 and after losing the Commonwealth Games final his game has taken a dip.

But there is still time. With Wiggins taking part in fewer events his concentration will not falter. But will his ageing legs?

Only Rio will tell Lollipop.

Germany are Lollipop’s World Cup champions

After a gripping 113 minutes Germany found a way through Argentina’s solid defence to end the tournament with a 1 nil win. Substitute 22-year-old Mario Gotze reached a curling pass  from Andre Schurrle and took the ball on the chest then flashed a volley past goalkeeper Sergio Romero into the net.

The stunning 7-1 victory over Brazil should have been the hunch everyone needed that Germany would win the 2014 World Cup but Argentina were not deterred.

The runners up had some clear chances at goal. In the opening half Gonzalo Higuaín missed a chance that was gifted to him from a mis-hit by Toni Kroos. Then talisman Lionel Messi curled a low shot just wide which even had goal keeper Manuel Neuer beaten. But the Argentines just could not get a goal on target.

Despite winning the Golden Ball award of the tournament Messi clearly was not at his best tonight. The Barcelona champ threw up during the first half on the pitch and could not convert any of his chances including a free kick in the dying seconds of extra time which he skied over the net.

Argentina’s captain just could not make his shot count like he did against Iran in the group stages. But of course you can’t just blame one player. Despite their solid defence Argentine forwards like Higuaín, and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero just had not made an impact in the most important game of their lives.

Argentina may have had the better chances but it was Germany that walked away with the coveted trophy after a  24 year wait for their country. Plaudits are calling their side the best team to win the tournament and with young talent like Mario Gotze who can argue with that.

Their stunning 4 nil win against Portugal opened up their campaign and was comparable to the start in 1990, when Beckenbauer’s side hammered Yugoslavia 4-1.  Algeria were the only side to give Joachim Low’s side any trouble as the tie went into extra time. Goals from Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil secured a quarter final with France. But it was the merciless win against hosts Brazil that really showed the world what a talented side the Germans were. Germany were 5 nil up after just 29 minutes – faster than any team in World Cup history. Brazilian captain David Luiz was in tears as were many Brazil supporters after such a devastating exit from their own tournament. At least the Brazilians can say they went out to the now four time World Cup champions- just one behind their country.

But Lollipop has no doubt this is a German team that could surpass Brazil in World Cup success. Most players like Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Christoph Kramer, Mesut Ozil and of course Mario Gotze are all under 30 and have another European and World Cup in them.

Even without their record breaking goal scorer Mirolav Klose Germany will not be a one hit wonder like previous Cup winners Spain proved to be. The team who have become the first European team to win the cup in America will return to Germany as heroes and by 2018 they could be even better.

But then again so could this guy Lollipop.

It Doesn’t Matter

Having lost the previous three major finals it seemed that our champ Novak Djokovic and coach Boris Becker just could not get past that last opponent. But somehow against the sport’s greatest grass court player Roger Federer he found a way through and is now a 2 time Wimbledon Champion.

The Serb fought his way through 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-4 to win his seventh Grand slam title.

After a stunning fourth set where there were four breaks of serve Djokovic let a championship point slip and a vigorous Federer came back to win five games in a row. The 2012 champ then held his serve to force a decisive fifth set.

But Djokovic recovered his nerve to fend off break points in the decider and clinch a dramatic win after three hours and 56 minutes.

The gripping win means the Serb will reclaim the number one ranking from Rafael Nadal. Federer is third but he wanted so much more than that today.

Having reached the final nine times and won 17 Grand slam titles Federer was back on Centre Court at a final of Wimbledon. At 32 years of age the Champ has still got it.

Last year he could not even make the second round of the tournament and suffered his worst Grand Slam defeat since 2004 in the second round against Sergiy Stakhovsky.  The loss ended Federer’s record streak of 36 consecutive quarterfinals at major tournaments and meant he would drop out of the top 4 for first time since July 2003, exactly 10 years after he won his first Wimbledon title. There was a new grass court champ and finally Federer’s chances of winning another grand slam had been written off.

But that is the mistake of most sports. Lollipop knows you can’t write off a champ.

Despite his loss today Djokovic was forced to play the match of his career.

After the celebrations he said: “Winning in 2011 was the highlight of my career but this win over Roger is probably the best grand slam final I have ever played in my life.”

Having missed the chance to close out the match in four sets – and having missed set points in the first Djokovic looked out of this match. The crowd screamed: “Roger, Roger,” as the Serb left centre court to cool down and gather his thoughts.

After calling on the trainer and just holding serve Djokovic recovered his poise to edge Federer in the fifth thanks to one break, in the 10th and final game.

The 27-year-old now joins John McEnroe, Mats Wilander and John Newcombe on seven grand slams the only difference is that Lollipop knows he can win more.

Despite playing in the era of clay court master Rafael Nadal and eight time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer, Djokovic has found a way to win and retain the number one ranking.

The Serb was seen as the underdog today but he showed it doesn’t matter how many more grand slams your opponent has won. It doesn’t matter how many times you have failed to clinch a major title.

All that stands out is your final game and your name on the winner’s board.

By Monday Novak Djokovic will be ranked number one. Last year’s Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will be ranked tenth. But that doesn’t matter, does it Lollipop?