Cote d'Ivoire

Introduction

Cote d'Ivoire is an African nation that competes in CAF for international competitions.

  • African Cup Appearances: 2
  • Best African Cup Result: Second Place (African Cup II)
  • World Cup Appearances: 8
  • Best World Cup Result: Champions (World Cup III)


Cote d'Ivoire in the Early World Cups

Cote d'Ivoire were drawn against Cameroon, Morocco, and Egypt to qualify for the first World Cup. The West Africans had a rough start with a 0-0 draw with Cameroon and then a hard fought 3-2 win over Egypt. Morocco had won both of their previous games to clinch a spot in the finals before their encounter with Cote d'Ivoire and sent out mostly backups for the match that Cote d'Ivoire needed to win in order to secure a qualification spot. The Ivorians ran over Morocco, winning 5-0, to earn a spot in the finals without going to the play-offs.

In the World Cup, Cote d'Ivoire were drawn against two Eastern European nations, Croatia and Slovenia, as well as Mexico. After the heavy win over Morocco, the team entered the tournament extremely confident, but were shocked in their opening game as they fell 0-2 to Slovenia. The team rebounded to beat Croatia by the same scoreline, 2-0, in the following game to set up a showdown with Mexico for a spot in the knockout round.

Just as in qualifying, the Ivorians saved their best performance for last. Cote d'Ivoire thrashed Mexico with another 5 goal performance, winning 5-1 to move on with Slovenia to the knockout round.

In the knockout stage Cote d'Ivoire came up against Cameroon again. Just as in qualifying, the match ended in a draw, albeit more high scoring this time around, 3-3 instead of 0-0. Cote d'Ivoire managed to score in overtime to move on to the quarterfinals. It was here where they met Netherlands and played one of the games of the tournament. Tied 1-1 after regulation, thanks to a late equalizer by the Ivorians, Cote d'Ivoire scored in the first half of overtime to take the lead, but since silver goal was being used, they had to finish the half to win. Netherlands scored an equalizer in the final seconds of the half to send the match into a second overtime period. Here, they scored again and held off a fierce Ivorian attack to eliminate Cote d'Ivoire. Netherlands would go on to get 2nd place in the World Cup.

In the next World Cup, Cote d'Ivoire faced a similar qualifying group, with Morocco and Egypt again, but South Africa instead of Cameroon. Morocco were looking for revenge in the opening game, but Cote d'Ivoire still managed to get the better of them with a 2-0 victory. Egypt managed to frustrate the team into a 2-2 draw in the next matchday, but Cote d'Ivoire were able to secure another World Cup spot thanks to a hard fought 2-1 victory over South Africa.

Again, Cote d'Ivoire would come face to face with Netherlands in the World Cup. This time in the group stage. Going in, Cote d'Ivoire were favorites to advance with their Dutch foes over Colombia and Georgia. However, Colombia proved tougher than expected and again Cote d'Ivoire let their opening game slip away, as the dust settled after the opening shootout the South Americans were the ones still standing, Cote d'Ivoire had lost 4-5.

There was still a chance to get to the knockout round. If the Ivorians could redeem themselves against Netherlands, they would be expected to easily beat Georgia and move on. Like the previous World Cup, Netherlands again frustrated Cote d'Ivoire and were still too much for them, winning 3-2 again, this time without needing overtime to achieve that scoreline.

Cote d'Ivoire technically could still move on thanks to Georgia's surprising win over Colombia, if they could just beat Georgia as Netherlands swept the group and beat Colombia as well. But the Ivorians were demoralized after the loss to their bitter rivals Netherlands, and offered no resistance to the Georgians, falling 0-5 on the day, their worst defeat in history. This ended their World Cup campaign as they crashed out without a victory.

World Cup Scandal

The final loss against Georgia in World Cup II has come under a lot of suspicious, due to its lopsided scoreline. Some people claim that the final match was fixed in order to ensure that Georgia would go through, or more specifically, that Colombia would be kept out of the knockout round. Several Cote d'Ivoire players and coaches were very upset after the opening loss to Colombia and critics suggest that after losing to Netherlands and being virtually eliminated themselves, they were willing to throw the match against Georgia in order to ensure that Colombia would not advance, even if the Colombians beat Netherlands.

The 5-0 scoreline does not help Cote d'Ivoire's case, but there are several factors against this conspiracy. First, Cote d'Ivoire surrendered 5 goals previously in the tournament - to Colombia in the opening match, and 3 to Netherlands, so they already had a history of giving up a lot of goals in their previous games already. Second, while Georgia were not thought of as a huge offensive team, they did go on to beat Wales 4-0 in the following game, proving that they were certainly capable of putting up such scorelines. Finally, Netherlands beat Colombia anyways, so its likely that Colombia would not have advanced no matter what the result of the Cote d'Ivoire-Georgia match. In fact, looking at the Netherlands-Colombia result, it was very possible that Cote d'Ivoire could have advanced with a victory over Georgia, so it's most likely just a coincidence that Georgia were able to achieve such a historic scoreline in their first ever World Cup.


World Series

After bombing out of the second World Cup, Cote d'Ivoire regrouped and entered the World Series. They got what appeared to be a tough draw in the opening round, facing Portugal first, but ended up sweeping the Europeans and even winning game one 4-0.

After the swift and stunning victory against Portugal, Cote d'Ivoire was expected to waltz past Paraguay in the next round. The first game went according to the script, with Cote d'Ivoire winning 3-0, but then Paraguay came back with two straight 2-1 victories to put the series in doubt. Cote d'Ivoire responded with their biggest victory ever, a 6-0 drubbing of Paraguay in game 4, but that was followed up with a hard fought 2-1 win of their own, but the series went into game 7 after Paraguay got revenge with a 3-0 win in game 6. The series was decided in a gritty battle in Asuncion which saw Bakayoko strike twice to move Cote d'Ivoire into the third round with a 2-1 victory.

It looked like the end of the line here, as the team was drawn to come up against Brazil. As expected, Brazil took the first game, but Cote d'Ivoire surprisingly took game 2, in Brazil, to level the series heading back to Africa. The results across the Atlantic were even more shocking, Cote d'Ivoire won game 3 by a 3-1 scoreline, and then game 4 5-2! Brazil won their next home game, but Cote d'Ivoire finished off the favorites 2-0 in game 6 to take the series 4 games to 2 and advance to the quarterfinals.

Here they came up against their arch rivals, Netherlands. The Dutch had bested Cote d'Ivoire in two epic World Cup matches, both by 3-2 scorelines. The opening game nearly went the same way, but Cote d'Ivoire finally got the evasive third goal to tie the match at 3-3, with each team scoring a goal in overtime. Netherlands again bested their rivals on PKs to take an early lead in the series.

The floodgates opened in game 2 as a shootout commenced and the match went into half time tied at 4-4, believed to be the highest scoring half ever recorded. Things calmed down in the second half and Cote d'Ivoire finally got sweet revenge when Drogba scored what turned out to be the winning goal. After the incredible 5-4 victory, Cote d'Ivoire battled Netherlands to another draw, this time 2-2, and finally the Africans managed to win on penalties, taking a surprising 2-1 lead in the series. Game 3 was even more shocking as Netherlands suffered another home loss in a 2-1 defeat. Back in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire got such sweet revenge by eliminating Netherlands with another 2-1 scoreline, with defender Kolo Toure being the unlikely hero after he scored the winning goal.

Cote d'Ivoire's campaign came to an end in the semifinals when they came up against Mali. Mali managed to pull an upset in Game 1, in Cote d'Ivoire, and then won all of their home games to take the series in six games, four games to two.


Rivalry with Netherlands

Cote d'Ivoire have met Netherlands in important competitions so many times that a rivalry has developed between the sides. In the very first World Cup, Netherlands bested Cote d'Ivoire in overtime to eliminate the Ivorians in the quarterfinals. In the next World Cup the two met in the group stage and Netherlands prevailed 3-2, again. This, combined with other results, caused Cote d'Ivoire to be eliminated in the group stage, the first (and so far only) time that's happened. In the Quarterfinals of the World Series the teams met again, playing an epic series in which Cote d'Ivoire managed to win 4 games to 1, even though 2 games were decided on penalties and the rest by a single goal each game. In fact, up to this point, all games between the sides had been decided by a single goal.

When Cote d'Ivoire won the third World Cup they didn't face Netherlands, but they did come up against their arch rivals again in the fourth World Cup. This time it was the group stage again, and Cote d'Ivoire finally got the better of Netherlands, winning 4-2. This was the first result decided by more than one goal and it caused Netherlands to fail to qualify for the knockout round. The sides met again in the seventh World Cup, drawn into the same group stage, they tied 2-2, although Netherlands advanced out of the group while Cote d'Ivoire did not.

World Cup I Quarterfinals: Netherlands 3 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire
World Cup II Group Stage: Netherlands 3 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire
World Series Game 1: Cote d'Ivoire 3 [4 - 5] 3 Netherlands
World Series Game 2: Cote d'Ivoire 5 - 4 Netherlands
World Series Game 3: Netherlands 2 [1 - 3] 2 Cote d'Ivoire
World Series Game 4: Netherlands 1 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire
World Series Game 5: Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 Netherlands
World Cup IV Group Stage: Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 2 Netherlands
World Cup VII Group Stage: Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 2 Netherlands

Cote d'Ivoire currently leads the series 4-2 with 3 draws between the sides.


World Cup III

World Cup Qualifying became more complex for the third World Cup, it was no longer groups of 4 that only played 1 game against each team. CAF's membership had increased from 8 to 10 between World Cups, so a new format of 2 groups of 5 that played home and away matches was used. For this World Cup, Cote d'Ivoire were drawn into a group against South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, and Ghana.

Cote d'Ivoire got off to a very bad start, losing 0-2 to South Africa. Questions circled on whether or not the team was still in the funk that saw them crash out of the last World Cup, but the team quickly put all that talk to rest when they thrashed Nigeria 6-0, tied for their biggest win ever, in the next match. Cote d'Ivoire scored 5 more goals in the next game against Morocco, but also ended up conceeding the same amount in an incredible 5-5 draw, the highest scoring competitive game that the team had ever taken part in.

New foes, Ghana, proved to be tough competition, playing Cote d'Ivoire to two draws of 2-2 and 0-0 with Cote d'Ivoire picking up a 2-0 revenge victory over South Africa inbetween to put them back on path for the World Cup. The team clinched a spot with a game remaining after squeaking out a 1-0 victory over Nigeria. The team ended up with another thrilling match against Morocco, winning 5-2 in a game that Morocco needed to win in order to qualify. The loss eliminated them from the tournament.

Cote d'Ivoire were drawn into Group F with the United States, Finland, and Croatia.

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World Cup IV

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Roster

GK - Gnanhouan
DF - Boka
DF - Toure
DF - Zokora
MF - Domoraud (c)
MF - Ettien
WF - Akale
WF - Kalou
CF - Dindane
CF - Bakayoko
CF - Drogba (c)
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GK - Yeboah
DF - Tebily
DF - Zoro
DF - Akassou
MF - Diabate
MF - Die
MF - Yapi-Yapo
WF - S. Kalou
CF - Bakari
CF - Konan
CF - Sekou
CF - Kone

Cote d'Ivoire run a very offensive 3-4-3. They have so many talented forwards that they can virtually insert any 3 into the lineup and not drop off in terms of attacking power. Generally Drogba and Bakayoko are preferred due to their superior skills and great teamwork together, but any of the other strikers may accompany them as the third man, or replace them if either are in bad form or fatigued. Most of the strikers also double as midfielders, especially wingers, which allows them to get a decent amount of playing time when true midfielders are not able to play or the team wants to be more offensive minded than they already are. It is not uncommon to have 5-7 strikers on the field at any time for the team, but because the players know how to play as midfielders, they can do so without any significant drop in play like Norway suffers when attempting the same strategy. In desperate situations Cote d'Ivoire has been known to use up to 9 strikers in desperate attempts to score, and have occassionally been successful in doing so.



Competitions


Honors



Competitive Matches

vs Algeria: 1 W 2 D 1 L 4 GF 4 GA
Algeria 0 - 0 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 2 Algeria (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Algeria 1 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 Algeria (World Cup VIII Qualifying)

vs Argentina: 0 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Argentina (World Cup IX Group Stage)

vs Bahrain: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 0 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 0 Bahrain (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)

vs Burkina Faso: 0 W 3 D 1 L 5 GF 7 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 2 Burkina Faso (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Burkina Faso 2 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 2 Burkina Faso (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Burkina Faso 1 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup IX Qualifying)

vs Cameroon: 2 W 2 D 0 L 7 GF 4 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 0 Cameroon (World Cup I Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 3 Cameroon (World Cup I Second Round)
Cameroon 0 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Cameroon (World Cup VI Qualifying)

vs Cape Verde Islands: 1 W 0 D 1 L 6 GF 6 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 4 Cape Verde Islands (African Cup I Quarterfinals)
Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 2 Cape Verde Islands (African Cup II Group Stage)

vs Colombia: 0 W 0 D 1 L 4 GF 5 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 5 Colombia (World Cup II Group Stage)

vs Congo: 1 W 1 D 0 L 2 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 Congo (African Cup I Qualifying)
Congo 1 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (African Cup I Qualifying)

vs Congo DR: 3 W 2 D 1 L 12 GF 7 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 0 Congo DR (World Cup V Qualifying)
Congo DR 1 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup V Qualifying)
Congo DR 1 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 2 Congo DR (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Congo DR 3 - 3 Cote d'Ivoire (African Cup I Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 0 Congo DR (African Cup I Qualifying)

vs Croatia: 1 W 1 D 0 L 3 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 0 Croatia (World Cup I Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Croatia (World Cup III Group Stage)

vs Denmark: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 Denmark (World Cup IX Group Stage)

vs Egypt: 5 W 2 D 0 L 14 GF 8 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 2 Egypt (World Cup I Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 2 Egypt (World Cup II Qualifying)
Egypt 0 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 1 Egypt (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Egypt (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Egypt 1 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 Egypt (African Cup II Group Stage)

vs Finland: 1 W 1 D 0 L 6 GF 2 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 0 Finland (World Cup III Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 6 - 2 Finland (World Cup V Group Stage)

vs France: 1 W 0 D 1 L 1 GF 3 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 France (World Cup III Championship)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 3 France (World Cup V Group Stage)

vs Georgia: 1 W 0 D 1 L 1 GF 5 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 5 Georgia (World Cup II Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 Georgia (World Cup V Third Place)

vs Germany: 1 W 0 D 0 L 2 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 Germany (World Cup IV Group Stage)

vs Ghana: 3 W 2 D 0 L 9 GF 5 GA
Ghana 2 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup III Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 0 Ghana (World Cup III Qualifying)
Ghana 0 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup V Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 Ghana (World Cup V Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 2 Ghana (African Cup I Group Stage)

vs Guinea: 1 W 0 D 1 L 1 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 1 Guinea (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Guinea 0 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup IX Qualifying)

vs Honduras: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 0 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 0 Honduras (World Cup V Quarterfinals)

vs Japan: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 2 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 2 Japan (World Cup VIII Group Stage)

vs Mali: 1 W 0 D 2 L 2 GF 3 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 0 Mali (World Cup III Round of Sixteen)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 1 Mali (World Cup V Semifinals)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 2 Mali (African Cup I Group Stage)

vs Martinique: 0 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Martinique (World Cup IX Round of Sixteen)

vs Mexico: 1 W 1 D 0 L 6 GF 2 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 5 - 1 Mexico (World Cup I Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Mexico (World Cup V Group Stage)

vs Morocco: 6 W 4 D 2 L 37 GF 21 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 5 - 0 Morocco (World Cup I Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 0 Morocco (World Cup II Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 5 - 5 Morocco (World Cup III Qualifying)
Morocco 2 - 5 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup III Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 6 - 1 Morocco (World Cup V Qualifying)
Morocco 3 - 6 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup V Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 3 Morocco (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Morocco 0 - 0 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Morocco 3 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 2 Morocco (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 2 Morocco (African Cup I Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 0 Morocco (African Cup II Semifinals)

vs Netherlands: 1 W 1 D 2 L 10 GF 10 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 3 Netherlands (World Cup I Quarterfinals)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 3 Netherlands (World Cup II Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 2 Netherlands (World Cup IV Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 2 Netherlands (World Cup VII Group Stage)

vs Nigeria: 2 W 1 D 2 L 8 GF 4 GA
Nigeria 0 - 6 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup III Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 Nigeria (World Cup III Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 2 Nigeria (World Cup VIII Quarterfinals)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Nigeria (African Cup I Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 1 Nigeria (African Cup II Championship)

vs Norway: 2 W 0 D 1 L 5 GF 3 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 0 Norway (World Cup III Quarterfinals)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 Norway (World Cup VIII Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 2 Norway (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)

vs Portugal: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 Portugal (World Cup V Round of Sixteen)

vs Russia: 0 W 0 D 1 L 1 GF 2 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 2 Russia (World Cup IV Round of Sixteen)

vs Senegal: 2 W 0 D 0 L 5 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 0 Senegal (African Cup I Qualifying)
Senegal 1 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (African Cup I Qualifying)

vs Slovenia: 0 W 0 D 1 L 0 GF 2 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 2 Slovenia (World Cup I Group Stage)

vs South Africa: 5 W 0 D 1 L 9 GF 4 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 South Africa (World Cup II Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 2 South Africa (World Cup III Qualifying)
South Africa 0 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup III Qualifying)
South Africa 0 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 South Africa (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 1 South Africa (African Cup II Quarterfinals)

vs South Korea: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 South Korea (World Cup VIII Round of Sixteen)

vs Spain: 0 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Spain (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)

vs Sweden: 0 W 1 D 0 L 2 GF 2 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 2 Sweden (World Cup VII Group Stage)

vs Togo: 2 W 2 D 0 L 6 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 0 Togo (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Togo 1 - 3 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 0 Togo (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Togo 0 - 0 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup IX Qualifying)

vs Tunisia: 3 W 3 D 1 L 8 GF 6 GA
Tunisia 0 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Tunisia (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Tunisia 1 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 0 Tunisia (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Tunisia 1 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 2 Tunisia (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Cote d'Ivoire 1 - 1 Tunisia (African Cup II Group Stage)

vs Turkey: 2 W 0 D 0 L 7 GF 1 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 5 - 0 Turkey (World Cup III Semifinals)
Cote d'Ivoire 2 - 1 Turkey (World Cup IX Group Stage)

vs United States: 1 W 1 D 0 L 3 GF 0 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 3 - 0 United States (World Cup III Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 0 United States (World Cup VII Group Stage)

vs Uruguay: 1 W 0 D 1 L 4 GF 4 GA
Cote d'Ivoire 4 - 3 Uruguay (World Cup IV Group Stage)
Cote d'Ivoire 0 - 1 Uruguay (World Cup VIII Group Stage)


Last modified: ?2?/?11?/?2015? ?9?:?20?:?59? ?AM