A SCHOOLGIRL will fulfil a lifelong ambition when she flies the flag for England at this summer's World Cup.

Nadiyah Jogee has even changed the date of her maths GCSE after the test date clashed with the three-day trip of a lifetime.

The 15-year-old, of Moss Gate, Blackburn, will carry the George Cross flag before England's match against Sweden in Cologne, Germany, on June 20.

And the Our Lady and St John RC High School pupil rubbed shoulders with her favourite player, Wayne Rooney, after discovering she had won one the prize in a Coca-Cola competition.

She is among 300 winners, selected from various international competitions, who will carry national team flags and part of her prize was a guided tour of Manchester United's Old Trafford ground.

Her mum, Farzana, 37, entered the competition after seeing it advertised on GMTV while Nadiyah was at school.

The Manchester United fan caught the judges' eyes with her explanation of why she should be chosen.

The entry read: "I often get poked fun at by my extended family for wanting to go and watch Manchester United instead of going shopping like most 15-year-old girls. My passion for football started with watching England so being a flag bearer would be a great way of saying thank you for making me different."

Nadiyah has applied to swap to another examining board which is holding maths exams earlier in the month to keep her place on the all-expenses-paid trip. No fan will get closer to the action at this summer's FIFA World Cup than the chosen under-16s, who will get to stay on the pitch until after the National Anthems before taking their seats to watch their England heroes.

Nadiyah, who is taking her 14-year-old cousin Sadiyah Saleh, from Leicester, with her said: "This is the best way to finish my exams. I couldn't believe it when I found I had won. It is my dream come true.

"I am the biggest Wayne Rooney fan so to meet him and then see him play and be on the pitch with him is just amazing.

"I nearly missed out when my exam was the same day. The trip couldn't be altered. It was awful. But my maths teacher sorted it."

Rooney said: "Being a flag bearer at the FIFA World Cup has got to be the next best thing to playing in the tournament, and they are going to be blown away by the incredible atmosphere that England fans always create at these big matches.

"Let's hope they can be England's lucky mascots this summer."