Ghanaian Mohammed Anas, of South Africa's Free State Stars, told the BBC he was referring to his daughter.
"My family knows that I call my daughter my girlfriend. That's what I was talking about. I don't have a girlfriend," he said.
Anas said he was not worried about his wife's reaction.
He said he was surprised how many people had watched the video.
"I'm famous now - people around the world know me," the footballer said.
He added he has been with his wife, who is South African, for seven years.
"I love her so much. She's given me two beautiful children. She is fine. She knows what kind of man I am so I am not worried," he said.
Anas made the slip of the tongue after being interviewed about his man-of-the-match performance in his team's 2-2 draw with Ajax Cape Town last Friday.
In the interview, the footballer says: "Thank you very much for giving me this. And I appreciate my fans, also my wife and my girlfriend..."
He hurriedly corrected himself: "I mean my wife, sorry to say. I'm sorry, my wife."
The video has been viewed more than 250,000 times on video sharing platform YouTube, as well as other social media networks.
A footballer whose post-match interview went viral after he thanked his wife and girlfriend has denied being unfaithful.