Due to the reduction of the league from 14 to 12 clubs, at the end of the previous season four clubs were relegated (RNK Split, Spartak Subotica, OFK Belgrade and NK Zagreb) and were replaced by two teams - NK Rijeka and FK Sarajevo.
In the 1998–99 season, he was the sharing the place of the scoring leder of the Croatian First Football League with his teammate from Rijeka, Igor Musa, both scoring 14 goals.
Notable players who appeared for Pazinka during this spell included Dado Pršo (later with AS Monaco and Rangers), Zoran Škerjanc (formerly of Dinamo Zagreb and Recreativo Huelva) and Damir Desnica (one of the very few deaf professional footballers, formerly with Rijeka and Kortrijk).
He played for NK Rijeka from 2002 to 2010, with an one-year loan spell to NK Opatija during the 2002–03 season.