Coach who recently resigned suddenly appears in Vietnam U23 team

Coach Phan Như Thuật is part of the Vietnam U23 coaching team for the training session scheduled in October.

SLNA Club officially announced that Coach Phan Như Thuật along with two players, Cao Văn Bình and Trần Nam Hải, will join the Vietnam U23 team for the third training camp of 2025 from October 4 to October 15.

Thus, Coach Phan Như Thuật will be one of the assistants in the Vietnam U23 coaching staff. In October, both Vietnam U23 and the national team will train simultaneously, but the national team will play two upcoming Asian Cup 2027 qualifying matches against Nepal.

Meanwhile, Vietnam U23 has no official tournaments and will only gather for squad evaluation. Therefore, the main coaching team will focus on the national team. This might explain why additional domestic coaches are being called up to Vietnam U23 for the October camp.

Notably, Coach Phan Như Thuật had just submitted his resignation from SLNA club a few days ago. He made this decision right after a 2-3 home loss against Ho Chi Minh City Police. If confirmed, this would be the second time the 41-year-old coach leaves the helm of the Nghệ An club.

SLNA started the 2025/26 V-League season with great difficulty. After 5 rounds, the Nghệ An team has only 1 win, 1 draw, earning 4 points and ranking 11th on the table. It is highly likely that SLNA will have to fight relegation again this season.

If his resignation is accepted, this would be the second time Coach Phan Như Thuật leaves the head coach position at SLNA. Previously, in 2023, this former player was appointed as head coach replacing Nguyễn Huy Hoàng starting from round 11 of the 2023 V-League. By the 2024/2025 season, he stepped down to make way for Coach Phạm Anh Tuấn.

Later, Coach Phan Như Thuật returned in November 2024 and has been leading the team since. His biggest achievement is helping SLNA avoid relegation and reach the final of the 2024/2025 National Cup.