Winger Simão Sabrosa has promised Portugal will not sit back and look to defend their one-goal advantage against Bosnia-Herzegovina when the teams contest the second leg of their World Cup qualification play-off in Zenica tomorrow.
That positive outlook was reinforced by the news this afternoon that the Chelsea midfielder Deco, who was doubtful for the tie with a muscle strain in his right leg, and the defender Bruno Alves, who twisted an ankle in Saturday's first leg, have both been passed fit to play.
Alves scored the only goal of the first leg in Lisbon on Saturday night, heading home at the far post from Nani's cross on the half-hour to settle a tight encounter in the hosts' favour.
Carlos Queiroz's squad were greeted with a hostile reception from the Bosnian fans when they touched down in Sarajevo yesterday. But the visitors know they cannot afford to be distracted as they look to secure their passage to South Africa, and Simão has vowed his team will be on the front foot.
"Tomorrow we will not defend the goal, we will impose our game," said the Atlético Madrid winger. "We know the difficulties we had in the last game. We tried to control the game after scoring a goal and have more possession, which was not always possible.
"The game tomorrow is the most important because it is close and because it can give us a World Cup campaign. It is the most important because in the last 10 years we have always been in major competitions. A World Cup without Portugal is not the same."
The 30-year-old admits, however, that the quality of the surface which awaits his side in Zenica will take some getting used to. "The pitch is not in the condition we would like," he said. "We expected it to be better. We're not used to playing on these pitches, but we have to get used to it. The advantage is ours, because we have a one-goal lead."
Manchester United's Nani, who deputised on the wing in the absence of the injured Cristiano Ronaldo at the weekend, was Portugal's most enterprising player in the first leg. However, the hosts' hopes of finding a second goal were continually thwarted by a disciplined display from the visitors.
Bosnia showed why only European champions Spain were able to defeat them in the group stage and they could even have taken an away goal into tomorrow's second leg a minute from the end when Edin Dzeko headed against the crossbar before the substitute Zlatan Muslimovic hit a post from the rebound.
While the Bosnians will have been enthused by their display, their hopes in the second leg have been undermined by bookings picked up by Emir Spahic, Elver Rahimic and Samir Muratovic which rule them out of tomorrow's game.
Simão added: "We knew we would have to go to Bosnia with good players. We also had our opportunities. They had efforts and hit the post, but we were superior and we scored a goal. We created several opportunities. I hope that tomorrow our shots hit a post and go in."
Miroslav Blazevic, meanwhile, is confident his Bosnia side can overturn their one-goal deficit. "We deserved more from the match in Lisbon," he said. "I've never seen luck desert a team like it did to us, but we can still turn this around. The second leg will be a completely different game of football and we will apply a new strategy to surprise Portugal."