Zenica, Bosnia  - Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz was the first to admit that his side had their fair share of luck in Saturday's 1-0 victory in the first leg of their World Cup play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

With only seconds remaining on the clock and Portugal tentatively hanging on to their one-goal lead, Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko found himself in space and on the receiving end of a Miralem Pjanic cross.

His powerful header crashed against the crossbar and bounced to team-mate Zlatan Muslimovic, who seemingly had an easy task of pushing the ball into the empty net.

But instead of Muslimovic equalizing for his side, the ball smashed against the upright and back into play.

It was the last chance the Bosnians had and soon afterwards the referee blew the final whistle to give Portugal a slight edge ahead of Wednesday's return leg in Zenica.

"I think with the image of that moment when the ball hit the post and the bar we can recognise we were lucky," Queiroz said after the match, with Chelsea's Deco adding: "In the end we had some luck, but even this advantage is not decisive. The important thing was not conceding."

The midfielder, who failed to fully compensate for the loss of World Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, who will miss both matches through injury, said that the side still had a tough task ahead.

"In Zenica if we score a goal there, everything will be easier, but we must be very intelligent and we must hold on to the ball," he said.

Deco was substituted a few minutes before the end after picking up a knock, but he is confident that it will not rule him out of Wednesday's game.

Bosnian coach Miroslav Blazevic, who will be without the suspended Emir Spahic, Elver Rahimic and Samir Muratovic, who will all miss the return leg after picking up a booking in Lisbon, is confident that his side will prevail at home.

"We could have achieved more in Lisbon, but the result is good. I am certain we will be going to South Africa."

The coach said that the side needed to change some of the ways they played.

"We can't go through if we play like we did in the first leg, but the return match will be a completely different game of football and we will apply a new strategy to surprise Portugal," he said.

Wolfsburg striker Dzeko said that he was looking for more luck for his side in Zenica. "It will be a very difficult return leg because we will be short of three very important players but I hope we will have more luck than we did in the first game."

The winner of the four European play-offs qualify directly for the finals in South Africa next year. (dpa)