He may be an awful egotist, a theatrical prima donna, a perma-tanned preener and a smirking winker, but the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo still has a chance of being at the World Cup finals is one that we should all be grateful for.

South Africa 2010 without Ronaldo would be like watching the X-Factor without Simon Cowell. A lot more palatable perhaps, but you always need a pantomime villain and a figure who provides pure entertainment. It is a guilty pleasure to feel comforted that those outrageous flicks, bedazzling stepovers and surging runs could be evident come June.

The injured Ronaldo did not even feature on Wednesday night when a 4-0 win over Malta secured Portugal’s spot in the European play-offs, courtesy of goals from Nani, Simao Sabrosa, Miguel Veloso and Edinho, but just a week ago the country looked to be in real danger of elimination.

A win over Hungary on Saturday, in which Ronaldo suffered his ankle problem, was the crucial result for under-fire coach Carlos Queiroz and, after a third victory in succession, the boss can now prepare for a two-legged tie which will determine whether his side reach the finals.

It is debateable whether they deserve to. Having lost to Denmark and drawn with Albania and Sweden at home, Portugal have not played to anywhere near their potential, even if their current crop of players pales into comparison with the ‘golden generation’ of Luis Figo and Manuel Rui Costa.

Real questions remain over Queiroz - who failed to qualify for Euro ‘92 and the World Cup finals in 1994 in his previous spell as manager - and results have been poor. But they have produced when required and momentum is growing ahead of the play-offs, where they will face one of Ireland, Bosnia, Slovenia or Ukraine. All eminently winnable fixtures.

Whether Portugal have enough to win the tournament outright, should they negotiate the play-offs, is debateable. Ronaldo is by far and away their star figure with players such as Deco and Simao mere understudies to the leading man.

But whatever your opinion of Ronaldo the person, the celebrity, there is no doubting that the World Cup needs to showcase the world’s best players. Just think of Pele in 1970, Diego Maradona in 1986 and Zinedine Zidane in 2006 (irrespective of his moment of madness in the final). The huge sigh of relief from Nike’s marketing department alone is audible enough.

Infuriating he may be, but Ronaldo is indisputably one of the global greats and it was a relief on Wednesday to see Portugal sneak into that play-off spot. Now the onus is on the forward, should he recover from injury, to ensure he reaches the stage he deserves when the play-offs come around in November.

At Euro 2004, the closest he has come to glory in the international arena, Ronaldo left the Lisbon field in tears as Portugal were denied a home victory by Greece. That pain will not have subsided and, with Ronaldo at his inspirational best, South Africa could be the setting for his crowning glory.

That he is still in with a chance of reaching the finals means we could all have the pleasure of seeing whether he can live up to the hype.