South Korea, who themselves turned the football world upside down when they reached the last four of the 2002 finals as co-hosts, were left stunned after failing to break through the Maldives defence in the Group 7 match.

The Koreans are Asia's strongest football nation, having played in every World Cup since 1986 and placed at 22nd in the latest FIFA world rankings -- 120 spots above the lowly Maldives.

The shock draw is all the more remarkable in that it was only in 1997 that the Maldives suffered a then record 17-0 defeat to Iran during a qualifier for the 1998 World Cup.

South Korea confounded expectations at the 2002 World Cup after wins over European giants Portugal, Italy and Spain helped them into the semi-finals, where they were beaten by Germany.

But South Korea's form has dipped since their 2002 heroics, and they suffered shock defeats to Oman and Vietnam during qualifiers for the Asian Cup last year before scraping into this summer's finals in China.

They opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Lebanon last month and looked to have eased the pressure on Portugese coach Humberto Coelho.

Coelho has faced repeated calls to resign from sections of South Korea's media and will come under renewed pressure to quit following this latest setback. He is contracted to coach South Korea until July.

His side could do nothing to penetrate some desperate Maldives defence on Wednesday, raining shots down on the opposition goal to no avail.

Korea also picked up three yellow cards as their frustration told in front of around 9,600 fans at the National Stadium.

The draw completed a scarcely believable turnaround for the Maldives, who finished 1998 World Cup qualifiers with the unenviable record of played six, won none, drawn none, lost six, goals for none, goals against 59, points none.

South Korea remain in pole position to reach the second round of Asian qualifying for the World Cup from Group 7, topping the table on four points from Lebanon and Vietnam, who have three points each after two games.

Lebanon defeated Vietnam 2-0 away in Wednesday's other match of the group.