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The NI team boss knows they will have to focus on closing down Cristiano Ronaldo and the Group F leaders.
"They would love the game to be open. They love space and to be able to play on the counter attack," said O'Neill.
Northern Ireland have been hit by the loss of defenders like Aaron Hughes and Craig Cathcart for Friday's game.
O'Neill has encouraged his side to play a passing style during his first campaign at the helm, but warned he would not be asking his men to go toe-to-toe with opposition ranked seventh in the world.
"We don't want it to be a beautiful game of football if I'm 100% honest," he said.
"They would love the game to be open. They love space and to be able to play on the counter attack.
"It is important they have a difficult night and that they know from the word go that they're going to have a difficult night.
"I think it would be foolhardy of us to go and play a really open game and say to Portugal 'Come and play us, you attack us and we will attack you'."
On Thursday Fulham defender Hughes was ruled out of the Northern Ireland team because of a groin injury.
The man who would probably have replaced him, Blackpool's Craig Cathcart, was already out of the squad with a knee injury.
Another defensive option was removed when Ryan McGivern of Hibs pulled out with a knee problem.
Chris Baird has been drafted into the squad as a replacement even though he is currently without a club.
Bradford City's Rory McArdle has also been called into the squad.
Hughes, who was set to continue in the right-back role which he occupied in the 1-0 win over Russia, sustained his injury in the final five minutes of his club's match against Newcastle.
Manager O'Neill acknowledged that the loss of the experienced 34-year-old was a "huge blow".
The Fulham defender subdued Ronaldo when the sides drew 1-1 in Porto last October and O'Neill described Hughes as "an iconic player for Northern Ireland over the last 12 or 14 years".
"It's frustrating and you always just want to roll out the same team again after a great result but unfortunately three of the back four that played against Russia are unavailable," added O'Neill.
"It's not an ideal situation but we'll rely on our shape and the workrate of the team to make it as difficult as possible for Ronaldo to do what he's capable of doing."
Northern Ireland may not be in the frame for qualifying, but they will go into the Portugal encounter with confidence after O'Neill secured his first win in charge against the Russians.
That shock result gave Northern Ireland only their third win in 34 matches and second in their last 23 fixtures.
The NI team boss knows they will have to focus on closing down Cristiano Ronaldo and the Group F leaders.
"They would love the game to be open. They love space and to be able to play on the counter attack," said O'Neill.
Northern Ireland have been hit by the loss of defenders like Aaron Hughes and Craig Cathcart for Friday's game.
O'Neill has encouraged his side to play a passing style during his first campaign at the helm, but warned he would not be asking his men to go toe-to-toe with opposition ranked seventh in the world.
"We don't want it to be a beautiful game of football if I'm 100% honest," he said.
"They would love the game to be open. They love space and to be able to play on the counter attack.
"It is important they have a difficult night and that they know from the word go that they're going to have a difficult night.
"I think it would be foolhardy of us to go and play a really open game and say to Portugal 'Come and play us, you attack us and we will attack you'."
On Thursday Fulham defender Hughes was ruled out of the Northern Ireland team because of a groin injury.
The man who would probably have replaced him, Blackpool's Craig Cathcart, was already out of the squad with a knee injury.
Another defensive option was removed when Ryan McGivern of Hibs pulled out with a knee problem.
Chris Baird has been drafted into the squad as a replacement even though he is currently without a club.
Bradford City's Rory McArdle has also been called into the squad.
Hughes, who was set to continue in the right-back role which he occupied in the 1-0 win over Russia, sustained his injury in the final five minutes of his club's match against Newcastle.
Manager O'Neill acknowledged that the loss of the experienced 34-year-old was a "huge blow".
The Fulham defender subdued Ronaldo when the sides drew 1-1 in Porto last October and O'Neill described Hughes as "an iconic player for Northern Ireland over the last 12 or 14 years".
"It's frustrating and you always just want to roll out the same team again after a great result but unfortunately three of the back four that played against Russia are unavailable," added O'Neill.
"It's not an ideal situation but we'll rely on our shape and the workrate of the team to make it as difficult as possible for Ronaldo to do what he's capable of doing."
Northern Ireland may not be in the frame for qualifying, but they will go into the Portugal encounter with confidence after O'Neill secured his first win in charge against the Russians.
That shock result gave Northern Ireland only their third win in 34 matches and second in their last 23 fixtures.
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