Stephen Rea, will discuss his new book, World Cup Fever, A Fan’s Guide to the Stars, Teams, Stories, Controversy, and Excitement of Sports’ Greatest Event, at 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 9, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. There is no registration.

Chapters highlight upsets, immortal players such as Pelé, Maradona, Zidane, Iniesta, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, and more, and the most thrilling games from every tournament, starting with tales of the 13 teams that played in Uruguay 1930.

The opening chapter offers a crash course in World Cup history, including a story about the captain of the France team in the first World Cup in 1930 who was shot years later by the French resistance for collaborating with the Nazis. There are also stories of the Yugoslavia team having to play a man short against hosts Brazil in 1950 due to a player banging his head on the way to the field from the dressing room, and one about the 1966 tournament in England, where organizers had to move a game away from Wembley due to a scheduling clash with the weekly dog races.

Chapter three covers the USA’s historical adventures in the World Cup. Highlights include the victory over England in 1950 in Brazil, still one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, as well as more recent triumphs in South Korea and South Africa.

There’s also a chapter focusing on some of the best players never to have played in a World Cup. Rea also picks his top 10 World Cup games through the history of the tournament, culminating in Germany’s 7-1 semi-final thrashing of Brazil on home soil in the last tournament.

Stephen Rea is a freelance writer who has been watching the World Cup for four decades. He is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland but has lived in New Orleans since 2004. A former national newspaper journalist in the UK, he penned the critically-acclaimed memoir Finn McCool’s Football Club and writes a weekly column for the official website of the English Premier League club Chelsea.