VATICAN- Members of the San Lorenzo FC in Argentina have paid a courtesy visit to their all time fan, Pope Francis at the Vatican.

The team which won the 2013 football league in Argentina presented a replica of the trophy to His Holiness with a team jersey which has the words Francisco Campeon (Francis Champion) emblazoned on the back.

Pope Francis has been a supporter of the Buenos Aires football team since he was a boy.

San Lorenzo won the Torneo Inicial championship after playing goalless draw against Buenos Aires rivals Velez Sarsfield on Sunday.

Team members said Pope Francis told them he would visit his native Argentina in 2016 for the 200th anniversary of the country's independence from Spain.

The Pope is a sports fan, who played basketball as a young man.

He has repeatedly spoken of the spiritual values of team sports, telling the rugby squads of Italy and Argentina that "rugby is like life because we are all heading for a goal, we need to run together and pass the ball from hand to hand until we get to it".

But he has in the past warned that looking for profit and victory at any cost risked reducing athletes "to mere trading material".