His speed and nifty footwork were soon noticed by Slobodan Pavković, the coach of the Singapore Under-23 squad and he was soon drafted into the Young Lions in the midst of the 2011 season in preparation for the 2011 Southeast Asian Games held in Indonesia later that year.

In June 2012, it was announced that Neil Vanu would return to his former club, Woodlands Wellington, during the mid-season transfer window and will be assigned the number 34 jersey.

On 21 June 2012, Neil made his re-debut for Woodlands in a match against Geylang United.

He got a red card in the 23rd minute of the match after picking up his second yellow for hitting an Indonesian player while they were tussling for the ball.

Neil also left a huge impression by coming on as a substitute against Cambodia and scoring the winner in the 74th minute of the match with a firm header off Yasir Hanapi's cross.