Soca Warrior Malcolm Shaw: 'Football is won on the day'

Soca Warriors' Canada-based striker Malcolm Shaw says he is ready to fight for the red, white and black as TT look ahead to their Concacaf Nations League A home-and-away quarter-final tie against the US on November 16 and 20.

Shaw, 28, is returning to the TT squad after missing the last two games in the 2023/24 Nations League A group stage against Guatemala and Curacao with an injury. TT will be on the road for the first leg when they play the US at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas on November 16, before hosting the Concacaf giants four days later at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo in an 8 pm kickoff. Shaw, who debuted for TT in this year's Concacaf Gold Cup, says the Warriors are up to the task ahead.

"The US are decorated with players who are in top leagues overseas. But football is won on the day and we're going to come and fight," Shaw told TT Football Association (TTFA) media.

"I feel good. It was unfortunate for me to miss out in the last two matches due to injury. I'm glad to be back with the team to help contribute and fight in these two massive games against a big team. This is going to be a massive challenge."

At the Gold Cup, Shaw featured in TT's humiliating 6-0 loss to the US which knocked the Warriors out of the group stage.

Shaw says the team's self-introspection is well underway.

"We have to do a lot of film study to evaluate where we went wrong (in the Gold Cup game versus the US). Obviously, we don't want those breakdowns happening in the next two games. Again, I think that's what we will be doing for the next week or so with preparations."

Shaw and TT quickly put the Gold Cup disappointment behind them as they rattled off wins over Curacao and El Salvador in their opening Nations League A group matches, with Shaw registering his first TT goal away to El Salvador with a well-taken penalty.

Shaw missed the next two matches but TT were able to secure a spot in the Nations League A quarter-finals after a dramatic 3-2 win over Guatemala and a surprise 5-3 loss away to Curacao.

The Atletico Ottawa player is now back in the Soca Warriors mix and will be vying to be in the final squad which will be announced by coach Angus Eve on Sunday.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the TTFA indicated limited early bird tickets for the November 20 return leg will be available for $100 (covered section) and $50 (uncovered section).