C++ is an imperative, language with a strong emphasis on performance and efficiency--qualities that certainly resonate with engineers. It is widely known for being a middle-level language, as it encapsulates both high-level and low-level language features.

Its background dates back to 1979 when it was created as an extension to the C language, defined as 'C with Classes'. It was later renamed to C++ in 1983. The ++ is a reference to the increment operator in C (and C++), implying that C++ is an incremental improvement of C.

Developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs, C++ introduces features essential for the simulation of systems such as classes, inheritance, strong type checking, and more that are absent from C. Its development was driven by an ethos of 'trust the programmer', favoring programmer freedom and efficiency over rigid enforcement of safety, which leads to its popularity in performance-critical environments like game development and system software.

Let's take a look at a simple football-related code snippet in C++. We'll be creating a variable player and assigning it a popular player's name—Cristiano Ronaldo.

xxxxxxxxxx

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {

  string player = "Cristiano Ronaldo";

  cout << player << endl;

  return 0;

}