From flags to a life-size statue, images and homages to Pope Francis were visible all around the Pedro Bidegain stadium in Buenos Aires on Saturday as his beloved San Lorenzo de Almagro soccer team took to the field for the first time since the pontiff's death.

Although he never visited Argentina, Francis returned to South America when he visited Brazil in the first months of his papacy during his first overseas trip in July 2013. He visited four of the five nations that border Argentina – Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay.

Francis never gave an explicit answer for not returning as pontiff to his native country, but some experts say he worried about having his presence used for political purposes.