Hot dog! Big day in Frankfurt

Strictly as a dramatic TV backdrop, Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final in Frankfurt will suffer from the absence of the powerful German team.

“It’s never quite the same for the host nation when they get eliminated,’’ ESPN play-by-play man Ian Darke said.

But plenty of Germans still will show up in person, and plenty of Americans will watch on TV – a women’s soccer audience likely to be second only to the ’99 Cup final at the Rose Bowl.

The past two U.S. victories rank third and fourth all-time for Women’s World Cup viewership, and overall average viewership for the tournament is up 218 percent from 2007.