Bosnia and Portugal left their two-legged Euro 2012 playoff finely balanced after a goalless stalemate on Friday on a barely playable pitch in the ramshackle Bilino Polje stadium.

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The Portuguese, who celebrated a 2-0 aggregate win over Bosnia at the same venue in their 2010 World Cup playoff, dominated proceedings but were almost caught napping late in the game after a subdued home side finally came to life.

Portugal had the upper hand in the opening stages with Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani looking lively on either flank, but failed to create any clear-cut chances as their final pass kept going astray on a bumpy surface littered with holes. Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure, saying: “The pitch was catastrophic, which produced a result that we’re not satisfied with. I was expecting a win but unfortunately we weren’t able to score. I expect certain victory in Lisbon. We are better than Bosnia and we’ll prove it on the return leg.”

StopwatchBosnia 0 drew with Portugal 0Turkey 0 lost to Croatia 3 (Olic 2, Manzukic 32, Corluka 51)Czech Republic 2 (Pilar 63, Sivok 90+2) bt Montenegro 0Estonia 0 lost to Ireland 4 (Andrews 13, Walters 67, Keane 71, 88-pen)Second legs to be played on November 15