This probably won’t be pretty.

Oh, Thursday night’s Canada-USA women’s soccer showdown at our new south-end football facility completes a nifty little circle of sorts.

It was 24 years ago the national women’s team played its first international game, right here in Winnipeg.

Now that it’s all grown up, with an Olympic medal hanging from its neck, it’s only fitting they’re welcoming the big, bad USA to town, a prelude to next year’s Canadian World Cup.

So this will certainly be intense, there’s no doubting that — a grudge match with the emotion of any hockey game between the two countries.

But pretty? Slim chance.

This is the shortest kid in class against the tallest. The kid who relies as much on heart as ability hoping to take down the older, natural athlete, with everybody else in the schoolyard betting against the kid, while cheering for her.

Or, as Team Canada head coach John Herdman put it, chemistry against chaos.

“They’re bigger than you, they can run faster — and that makes them just a machine,” Herdman said of the Olympic champion Americans. “They tend to be just a moving force that no matter who they play, they play the same sort of style. It’s very chaotic.

“It’s organized chaos... you’ve got to think carefully how that chemistry comes together to control the chaos that ensues.”

Simply put, Herdman’s crew will have to be gritty, smart, creative and damn near perfect to pull off its first win in 13 years over its biggest rival.

The way the coach tells it, not even the really good teams can prevent the Americans from rolling up 20 or 30 shots.

“The teams that have beat them this year have maybe only had six shots on goal, but scored,” he said. “That’s the reality.

“It’ll be a different type of game. It’s a game that Canada won’t dominate. So the fans have got to be ready to really get behind us.”

With a crowd of 25,000-plus expected in Desiree Scott’s first match in her hometown, the atmosphere should rival what we’ll see in this country for the World Cup, next year.

“I remember the official announcement,” Scott said. “And now we play. The nerves are starting to settle in a little bit.”

This underdog has proven it can play with the Americans, most recently in Frisco, Texas, in January, a 1-0 loss in which Canada blanked the U.S. until the 75th minute.

They’ve played one other time since the heart-wrenching, 4-3 setback in the 2012 Olympic semifinal: the much-hyped rematch in Toronto, a 3-0 U.S. win.

“I love these games,” Team Canada goalkeeper Eric McLeod said. “I have to be on my toes literally every second of the game. But it’s great. You always want to play against the best.”

The Frisco result tells the Canadians they’re getting closer to actually beating the best.

“Every time we play them, I feel like it’s time,” McLeod said. “We’re overdue. So I really feel that this time.”

What would a win mean? There’s no medal attached to it, no points in any world soccer standings.

But it would signal another step in the game in this country, and plant a seed of confidence in the women, with still a year for the thing to sprout for the world to see.

“They’ve captured the hearts and minds of real Canadians,” Herdman said. “And people have stuck with them. It’s a beautiful story... I’m hoping the crowd now gets a real sense of what’s coming in 2015.

“This country will stop at some point. This team will make the country stop, and everyone will tune in. It’s going to be an amazing experience for women’s sport.”

Sounds like a blast.

Just don’t tell these girls Thursday will be fun.

“You never enjoy the experience against the U.S. on the pitch,” Herdman said. “They know that. It actually hurts. It’s a physical battle. But they know it’s coming.”

paul.friesen@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @friesensunmedia