Every step brings pain as the stooped man totters across the tiny apartment.

Han Chang-wha, 77, used to be extraordinarily fit. His life was once all about soccer. His life now is all about survival.

Han played on Korea's first World Cup team in 1954 in Switzerland; he is one of five surviving members from that squad. But 48 years later, nobody seems to remember him, including his government.

After his playing career ended, Han coached amateur soccer teams for six or seven years, and then took a staff position with the amateur league.

That job ended in 1980 after he received a severe head injury. "Someone hit me on the head with something," he said, pointing to a dent in his forehead.

The words come haltingly; he has never fully recovered. He stays at home most of the time in a cramped, one-bedroom apartment in Suseo, on the outskirts of Seoul. He lives with his wife, Yoon Hye Mi-ja, 62, and the couple's two grown children.

Because Han has no pension to draw from those soccer days, his wife has had to work several jobs, including nursing and selling insurance to keep the family afloat. She has tried to talk to Korean soccer officials about her husband's situation. Her calls are not returned, and her visits are not received.

"We only need a little bit of help," she said, "but no one seems to care about us."

"We get by," Han said, his thin voice filled with pride.

While World Cup fever blankets the peninsula - South Korea and Turkey will play today for third place in this year's World Cup - it has left Han Chang-wha in the cold. He wasn't invited to the World Cup's opening ceremonies in Seoul or to any of the matches. Most people who live in Han's apartment building do not know his connection to that famous sporting event.

Asked if being forgotten bothers him, Han paused for a moment. "Well," he said finally, "that's life."

The words bring a sigh from his wife.

"I'm not mad at anyone," Han said. "I don't expect any help. Anyway, I got to play in the World Cup."

Those two words, "World Cup," seem to cheer and define Han, and in a large sense they do.

In 1954, the peninsula was best known for the Korean War. which had ended a year before. The country was battle-torn, and for it to take part in a worldwide sporting event was a significant achievement. For the players from the decimated little nation, the experience was overwhelming.

"To be honest, we never had any exposure of that magnitude," Han said, rubbing his aching knees. "Everything was just foreign to us. The city, the crowds. Everything."

Korea's only international soccer experience had been friendly matches with sailors from the British navy who made stops in the country every year or so.

Han's life began in 1925 in Manchuria, where his father had been sent by the Japanese to serve as a policeman. Han Chang-wha used to play soccer all day.

"For us, the morning was something like the first half and the afternoon the second," he says. "My feet never grew tired. I don't know why, but I just loved to play."

Han attended an engineering college in Manchuria, majoring in architecture. But after graduation, he chose to compete for an amateur team called Army Engineering Unit No. 1101. At the time, only the military offered any kind of organized sports. There were no endorsements from big corporations and certainly no ads featuring players. For them, it was pure enjoyment of the sport.

"I brought home a half-bag of rice every month," Han said. "Forty kilograms [88 pounds]; that was my salary."

Most of the time his family ate all the rice. What they didn't eat, he sold.

At 29, he joined the national team as it prepared to compete in the 1954 World Cup. To qualify, Korea had to beat Japan. Two games were to be played, one in each country. But anti-Japanese feelings for the former colonial power were high.

Korea simply refused to allow the Japanese team to come. Finally, Korea agreed to play the two qualifiers in Tokyo.

"There was no way that we could lose to Japan," Han said. "It did not matter whether they were better than us. That was totally irrelevant."

Before the players left Korea, President Syngman Rhee told them, "If you lose, don't even think of crossing the sea toward home."

By defeating Japan, 5-1, in the first game and drawing, 2-2, in the second, Korea earned the right to play its first World Cup.

Four groups of four teams contested the World Cup. South Korea was placed in Group 2, with West Germany, Turkey and Hungary, the clear favorite. In 1952, the Hungarians had won the Olympic gold medal.

The "Magical Magyars" were undefeated in 31 games spanning four years. West Germany and Turkey were no slouches, either. South Korea would be, by all indications, in for a tough time. The tough times began even before the matches.

The team landed in Switzerland only one day before its first match, against Hungary. It had to take a train to Busan, a ship to Japan and then catch a U.S. military plane to Zurich. Actually, the team took two airplanes, arriving separately in Switzerland. There was no time to practice.

"We went to bed, and the next day we woke up and realized how big a game we had in front of us," Han said.

Korea's coach, Kim Yong-sik, did not say much before the Hungary match, for he surely knew Korea had little chance.

"Our coach was excited and probably as nervous as the rest of the team," Han said. "So there we were, waiting in the locker room to go outside and play. At last the call came, and we walked out onto the field. My heart was pounding and I felt like it would pop out any moment."

Inexperience and lack of preparation caught up with the Koreans, who were pummeled by the Hungarians, 9-0. Korea's coach used only his starters in that game, so Han, a second-string defenseman, did not see action. In desperation, Kim juggled his lineup for the next match, with Turkey, and Han took the field at kickoff. Another embarrassment awaited the Koreans as Turkey won, 7-0.

Under the rules at that time, the Koreans did not play their third match with West Germany, since it would not influence the outcome of their group. Perhaps that was a good thing, because West Germany wound up winning the World Cup, stunning Hungary in the championship game, 3-2.

The lopsided scores shocked people back in Korea, for this was the same team that had lifted the nation's spirits by defeating Japan only three months before. Soccer experts said that Korea's team had been in far over its head.

The scores don't matter to Han Chang-wha. Playing for his country, hearing the Korean national anthem, embracing the excitement, that's what was important.

"You don't forget those things," says the man who has been forgotten.