China eliminated New Zealand from the round-of-16 contention by settling for a 2-2 draw during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup held at the Winnipeg Stadium in Winnipeg, Canada on Monday, June 15, as per ESPN.

The Football Ferns drew first blood with a fabulous strike by center back Rebekah Ashley Stott from just inside the right of the box during the 28th minute mark.

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KēngqiāngMéiguī tied the count at the 41st minute via a penalty kick from midfielder Wang Lisi. This allowed China to go into halftime leveling with a draw instead of being down 0-1.

The Chinese managed to take the lead in the second half with a well-played header by center forward Wang Shanshan coming from a pass by team captain Wu Haiyan at the hour mark of play.

But it was not too long before the Kiwis tied the score again.Forward Hannah Wilkinson found the back of the net from a header pass by main striker Amber Hearnfrom a long cross pass at the 64th minute.

The Steel Roses would have scored another goal to go up 3-2 if not for Shanshan misfiring a wide open shot from the corner 15 minutes before time expired.

With the draw, China held on for second place in Group A with four overall points, tied with third placer Netherlands and behind host Canada who has five points. The three teams qualified for the knockout stage, while New Zealand was eliminated with only two points to show after the six-game round robin.

Meanwhile, Chinese coach Hao Wei was thrown out of the game during the 92nd minute as he appeared to interfere defender Ria Percival's inbounds pass, as reported by the New York Daily News.

Hungarian referee KatalinKulcsár moved toward the ruckus at once and instantly ejected Hao. Ten minutes before the incident, Hao was reportedly already warned by Kulcsár because of his behavior.

After the match, the Chinese coach approached New Zealand coach Tony Readings to shake hands, but the latter dismissed him.

Readings told reporters during the postgame conference that he was unhappy about Hao's antics on the field, according to Yahoo Sports. The Kiwi coach mentioned that he would never do that to any opposing team and would just allow all the players to be "on stage" and not share it with them.

Tagsnew zealand, FIFA Women's World Cup, Winnipeg Stadium, Rebekah Ashley Stott, KēngqiāngMéiguī