If Vitor Saba had to name the one trait that binds himself with the Wanderers, it would be fearlessness. It's the reason Western Sydney are about to play in an Asian Champions League semi-final just three years after their birth, confident of going further and even clinching silverware. For Saba, it is perhaps why he has never cared about critics.

The Brazilian playmaker has been at the Wanderers for little more than a month but has already identified with what he sees as the core of the club. Much like the ambitions of those responsible for its shaping, Saba has a calm demeanour contrasted with a ruthless desire to win and approaches everything with consistency, stability and patience.

Even before their final training run in Seoul in preparation of their biggest match of their Asian Champions League campaign, he sits with a surprising sense of calm.

"I think I match this environment because we really are a fearless squad and I'm a fearless guy," Saba said. "We've developed a mental strength here that is big, I've never been like this."

Whether it's his long beard, tattoos or his attitude, Saba has already become a hit with the fans despite still awaiting his first start. He has not scored or created an assist in the infancy of his career in Australia but believes his impact in the ensuing chaos of the quarter-final first leg victory over Guangzhou may have furthered his notoriety.

He caused havoc to the defence of the Asian champions in a cameo from the bench and played a key role in Evergrande's second dismissal, so much so that he was the target of an enraged Marcello Lippi. The Italian coach reacted heatedly and allegedly tried to fight Saba in the tunnel. He never landed a punch. Critics raised  allegations of diving though it did not penetrate Saba's thick skin. .

"I don't know why, I did nothing wrong but I told you, I don't mind what other people say," Saba said. "It doesn't change the way I play. I'm going to play like I do all the time. They can say whatever they want to say but in my conscious, I do my conscious exam and I did nothing wrong. Ok, maybe the fans in Guangzhou were like this because they lost, that's why. I'm OK with that."

He received violent threats from Chinese supporters after that and allegations of diving from pundits in Australia but he says growing up in a "hostile" environment in Brazil made it easy to handle any criticism that arrived.

"I always handle pressure well ... maybe it was the way I was raised, back in Brazil, growing up it was a hostile environment since we we were kids. This pressure, it just doesn't affect me," Saba said. "The fans are different, the coaches are different. Football is our passion so since we are kids there's fans, parents who are crazy so you learn from when you were a kid the pressure to play and I have my mentality."

Suspensions to key strikers Tomi Juric and Brendon Santalab forces a reshuffle in the forward line that will probably give Saba his first start for his new club. It will not be in an arena as intimidating as Guangzhou because of a temporarily reduced capacity of Seoul's World Cup stadium yet the calibre of their opponent - five-time Korean champions - holds another sense of pressure. But just as an enraged Lippi discovered, FC Seoul are unlikely to see a reaction.

"[We are] calm, fearless, concentrated and prepared. It's always the same. I think it is a point of strength," Saba said.