LONDON, July 1: With bright smiles and faces painted red and white, a group of British schoolchildren swindled earlier this month headed back to Germany on Saturday – this time with tickets arranged with the help of the Prime Minister himself.

The group of 250 students, aged 11-16, waved flags at Heathrow Airport before flying to England's quarter-final match against Portugal in Gelsenkirchen.

They originally travelled to attend a group-stage game between Portugal and Iran on June 17, but arrived to find they'd been duped.

Upon hearing of the group's plight, Tony Blair appealed to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, and the head of soccer's governing body arranged 350 tickets to the match.

“I am so excited to see a real game! I wasn't expecting this at all,” said 12-year-old Luke Williams, clutching a white flag with the red cross of St George. “I've been waiting for so long.”

The students were the last of the fraud victims to travel to the tournament. On Friday, 57 students left by bus for Gelsenkirchen. Another 30 watched England beat Ecuador on June 25.

“At first we thought it was a cruel joke, and it definitely wasn't funny,” said Kay Eccleston, 15, a student at Blake Valley school in Cannock, central England. “But then we were just devastated. It was so sad. I wanted to cry.”

Teachers travelling with the students said they were grateful for the second chance.

“The end result is wonderful,” said Lindsay Hunter, a teacher at Caistor Grammar School in central England.

The children planned to give Blatter thank-you cards on the stadium field before the game.

Each person cheated out of a ticket lost between US$550 and $740. —AP