Trinidad and Tobago Calls Up Two CPL Athletes

Facing a tough Concacaf Nations League quarter-final clash against the USA, The Soca Warriors are calling upon two Canadian Premier League talents.

Halifax Wanderers leader Andre Rampersad and Atletico Ottawa forward Malcolm Shaw have both accepted the call to duty and could feature in both quarter final legs: the first will take place in the US on Thursday, while the reverse fixture will see them host the clash on November 20.

This marks the third national team call up for Atletico Ottawa original Malcolm Shaw. Having broken through in the Gold Cup, he bagged his first goal in a Concacaf Nations League tilt against El Salvador last September and will be hoping for some repeat form against the United States.

Flashback: Shaw Says ‘Goals And Success Will Come’ For Ottawa

The Pickering, Ontario-born forward is coming off the back of a tough season at club level: Atletico Ottawa fell from grace this year, going from regular season winners in 2022 to missing playoffs entirely in 2023. Shaw tallied just one league goal throughout, a far cry from his career-high ten-goal tally in 2021.

It’s been a similarly strange year for Halifax Wanderers original Andre Rampersad, who also broke into the national team setup this year. Featuring throughout the Gold Cup and scoring his first goal in some style, he also played almost every possible minute in the country’s subsequent September and October international windows.

Despite the hot form for Trinidad and Tobago, this season has seen Andre Rampersad somewhat displaced under the system of new Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar. After starting and captaining for the side this year, his minutes saw diminished returns through the summer to the point where the last nine regular season matches saw him carve out just 75 minutes of game time split through four appearances.

The Trinidad and Tobago line-up also includes former Atletico Ottawa and York United forward Ryan Telfer, who now plies his trade for Miami FC.

Should Trinidad and Tobago pull a result against the US – a country who grabbed a seven goal haul to stifle Federico Pena’s debut in 2021 – the rankings of those next two quarter-final results will determine whether they face Costa Rica or Panama, Jamaica or Canada, or Honduras or Mexico.