Beiruting News

Vandals in Portugal painted Lionel Messi's name on a statue of Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday.

Messi's shirt number was also smeared in red paint on the statue in Funchal, Real Madrid and Portugal striker Ronaldo's hometown.

Reports in the Portuguese and Spanish media said the statue was vandalised early on Tuesday, the day after Messi won the Ballon d'Or in Zurich to end Ronaldo's two-year hold on football's top individual prize.

The reports said the statue was cleaned by the end of the day, and added that officials were still searching for the vandals.

Ronaldo's sister, Katia Aveiro, expressed her otutrage at the act of vandalism via her personal Twitter account.