International Career
Simonyan joined the Soviet Union national football team in 1954.
He competed with the Soviet team at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The team defeated Germany, Indonesia, Bulgaria and finally Yugoslavia. They won the gold medal in football.
Simonyan was a member of the Soviet football team at the 1958 FIFA World Cup, its first World Cup. Because Team Captain Igor Netto was unable to play due to injury for most of the World Cup, Simonyan was named Captain of the USSR national football team in his place. The team was placed in Group 4, considered by the experts to be the toughest of the 1958 World Cup. The Union's games against England and Brazil were the most attended in the group stage. Simonyan scored a goal against England and was an important asset, as the Soviet team would have Soviet team would have been defeated without it. The Soviet Union lost to the Pelé-led Brazil team in the final group game. The USSR came in second place, which qualified them for the knockout stage. They were defeated by Sweden.-
Simonyan played his last match on June 19, 1958. Out of 20 internationals for the Soviet Union national football team, he managed to score 10 goals.
Read more about this topic: Nikita Simonyan
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